With the evolution of the government’s Clean Car Programme this Friday, we talk to Mark Gilbert, chair of Drive Electric, on his thoughts about electric mobility and the charging infrastructure in Aotearoa.
There are more than 1,200 petrol stations in New Zealand, and if we conservatively assume six bowsers per station, there are at least 7,000 places where you can get your petrol or diesel car refuelled at any one time.
In comparison, according to the NZTA Journeys website, there are 326 public EV chargers in the country. There may be more as it’s hard to get exact numbers, but analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that New Zealand has the lowest ratio of public chargers to EV stock in the developed world.
Meanwhile, thanks to maturing vehicle technology and the government’s incentives, EV uptake is surging in New Zealand. In the last year, EV registrations have increased by 55 per cent (February to February).
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By 2035, it’s estimated that there could be more than 1 million electric vehicles on our roads. By 2050, almost all light vehicles will be electric. The scale of infrastructure needs to meet that demand.
We can’t wait for EV numbers to hit huge numbers before we invest in the charging infrastructure. New Zealanders won’t buy EVs if they can’t charge them. Infrastructure must lead mainstream uptake.
Some people can’t charge at home. Others will need to charge up on their journeys. We’ve almost put to rest ‘range anxiety’, as almost all new EVs do more than 300km now, some up to 600km. We don’t want to replace it with ‘charging anxiety’.
If infrastructure must lead the transition, then the government should play a role, alongside business and local government. We need coordinated direction and an increase in co-investment to kick-start uptake, as charging scales and becomes economic. We may even need bolder moves still, such as mandating local government to provide certain numbers of public chargers.
This sort of ambitious and coordinated approach has been taken before, such as with the roll-out of Ultra-Fast Broadband.
The Government reports that there are already chargers every 75km of state highway, which is a start. But we need public chargers in our suburban streets, and in the carparks of businesses and other amenities.
Research in the UK, where many people can’t charge at home, said the majority of people expect access to a long dwell charger within two minutes of their front door.
A fund exists through EECA, the Low Emission Transport Fund, to support investment in public and private charging infrastructure and other initiatives related to low carbon transport. Much of the progress made in public charging to date has been co-funded in this way.
But as I said earlier, this is only just a start. The investment required will be many times bigger than what’s currently available.
The good news is we have businesses in New Zealand ready to make this transition happen. ChargeNet has been a huge force behind our current network. Electricity distribution businesses, like Vector and PowerCo, and electricity retailers like Meridian, are also rolling out charging stations.
New Zealand even has a company that produces AC EV chargers, Evnex. (Full disclosure, I am on the Board of this business.)
I would have expected our retail fuel businesses to have moved faster into providing a greener fuel, electricity. BP, for instance, is rolling out EV charging stations in overseas markets. But there are green shoots. Z Energy, with co-funding from EECA, will install 12 ultrafast chargers at locations in the upper North Island.
Of course, it’s estimated that 80-90 per cent of EV charging will happen at home. This is why along with a comprehensive network of public charging stations, we need safe and smart charging capability in homes.
Most homes are capable of charging an EV. This can be done through a normal three-pin plug. Homeowners can also install a 7.5kw charger or, for those with three-phase power, an 11kw charger. Ideally, at home charging is done by ‘smart chargers’.
These smart chargers are necessary because they help to ensure that EVs don’t overload the electricity network at times of peak demand. Further, as electricity becomes the predominant source of energy in transport, we’re going to need more of it. Smart charging technology and demand management will help us invest in that new generation more efficiently. In other words, not over-invest.
Ideally, new homes would be built with smart EV charging capability in place. I would go as far to say that this should be mandated. It’s much cheaper to install smart charging equipment in a new build (around $2k), rather than retrofitting it (around $4k). I’d also encourage people to think about their future house value - increasingly buyers will be demanding smart charging in the garage.
Given the benefit to the EV driver and other users of the grid, the UK and the Netherlands governments have offered subsidies to kick-start the uptake of smart chargers. The UK subsidy of up to 75% of the cost of the charge has been available for about five years. I haven’t heard if subsidies are being considered by the government, but it should be investigated.
At home smart charging benefits the EV-owner, and all users of the grid. For the driver, it is convenient to fuel up while you sleep, and costs around 30c-40c per litre equivalent.
Collectively, as we look to the global context, the more we use renewable energy produced in New Zealand, the more we control our energy future. Not a bad thing.