Trolley buses get second life
More than 50 old trolley buses should be converted to battery power and put back on Wellington streets from January, thanks to a $763,000 government grant.
The grant is the largest among almost $4 million in handouts from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) in its latest round of subsidies to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles (EVS).
The money will be used to help pay for NZ Bus to install fastcharging stations for its former trolley buses at depots in Karori and Kilbirnie, the EECA said.
Other grants announced by Energy Minister Megan Woods yesterday will help pay for an eclectic mix of electric vehicles to hit New Zealand streets.
These include the country’s first all-electric water truck, five electric Countdown supermarket delivery trucks, electric vans for park maintenance and rural postal deliveries, and a lines maintenance electric truck with an elevating platform.
Campervan company Jucy has received a $365,000 grant to help design a fleet of 10 longer-range electric campervans that it plans to put out for hire this summer.
The Government will also help pay for an extra 22 fast-charging stations to plug gaps on major state highways between Christchurch and Blenheim, on the Ka¯piti and Horowhenua coasts, and on the Southern Scenic highway that runs from Dunedin to Queenstown via Invercargill.
The grants scheme was set up by the previous government in 2016 to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles and is managed by the EECA.
Woods said about $14m in subsidies had been approved to date, which had been matched by $23m of private money.
Part of the focus in the latest round of grants had been to dem- onstrate the viability of light and heavy EVS in sectors where the technology was ‘‘relatively unproven’’, she said.
EECA said its focus for the next round of grants would include continuing to plug gaps in charging infrastructure on the West Coast and on Arthur’s Pass and encouraging the use of EVS for public transport.
It also hoped to encourage schemes to test the potential of ‘‘smart charging technologies’’ that can involve EVS being used as batteries to feed power back into grid at times of high electricity demand.