EV owners in New Plymouth are out of luck if they want to charge their cars in the cities town centre.
The New Plymouth District Council voted against its own report to support the installation of a Tesla Supercharger Station in town.
Watch the NPDC strategy and operations meeting where the decision was made below, and skip to 1:15 to hear one of the councillors yelling "petrol forever!" followed by the laughter of his fellow council people.
Tesla had been seeking a license that would give it four consecutive parking spaces in the middle of town, with three stations for Tesla drivers and one with a universal charger for other brands.
The report stated "it is recommended that Council approves in principle the licence to occupy with Tesla in order to install a Supercharger Station at one of the locations."
Molesworth, Powderham and Gill Streets had been earmarked as possible sites, and the best option of the three would be chosen.
"Taking this approach will allow Tesla to conduct technical and safety feasibility checks at their expense and engage contractors to seek quotes for installation or upgrades to existing network infrastructure on the site options," it continues.
"The site which is found most technically favourable will then be identified by Tesla to Council."
The councillors voted against the idea, and instead told council officers to investigate all options for an EV charging station and report back within 12 months.
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The decision has been criticised by the Tesla Owners Club of New Zealand, which says New Plymouth has long been a challenging city for EV owners to visit because there's only a single 50kW fast charger there.
The club says "to see Tesla NZ's offer to support the thousands of Tesla owners and tens of thousands of EV owners across New Zealand free of charge turned down is a slap in the face."
It called on the Council to "do the right thing by their ratepayers and by New Zealand as a whole by supporting this initiative and enabling a faster transition to an environmentally sustainable, electric future".
The report supporting the Supercharger Station states a decision rejecting it wouldn't be consistent with the Council's own 'Sustainable Lifestyle Capital' vision or its city centre strategy.
"In alignment with Council’s actions on mitigation emissions, this proposal offers visitors to the CBD increased charging infrastructure. The provision of charging infrastructure allows visitors to New Plymouth who have elected to drive an electric vehicle to access charging infrastructure even when travelling long distances," it says.
"This option also affords Council the opportunity to augment the city’s charging infrastructure at no capital cost, however at a cost to Council relevant to the revenue generated by these spaces operationally."
The report from infrastructure project manager Denise Houston, indicates that those costs could have been between $5408 and $20,000 per annum - location dependant - because the Council wouldn't gain car parking fees for the spots.
The Tesla Owners Club of New Zealand believes the decision will have an immediate impact on EV owners who had been planning a trip to the city, including the club itself, who had been planning to attend 'Americarna': An American car culture celebration set to be held in February 2022.
"This decision by the council will certainly put a number of owners off attending this event, or visiting New Plymouth in general until the EV charging facilities within the city are improved."
