Minister opens EV charge station
THE Wakatipu’s first highspeed electric vehicle charger was officially opened by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods yesterday.
The charging station, in the Pak’n Save car park in Frankton, has been operating since February.
Funded by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), it is among more than 50 being installed at Foodstuffsowned supermarkets and stores throughout New Zealand.
It is owned and operated by ChargeNet Ltd, a private company that is installing the stations across the country.
ChargeNet chief executive Steve West said one of its biggest difficulties was finding sites for the stations, which was why the partnership between EECA and Foodstuffs was proving so effective.
The chargers cost about $60,000 to supply and install.
A second station would be installed in Athol St, in the resort’s CBD, in the next few months.
Dr Woods said there were about 7800 electric vehicles registered in New Zealand, and numbers were forecast to double every year.
A highspeed charging station can fully charge a vehicle in 2040 minutes, which is up to 12 times faster than using a residential electricity supply.
The standard cost is 25c a minute plus 25c per kilowatt hour.
There are already several slowerspeed charging stations in the Wakatipu, but they are only compatible with Tesla vehicles. More are planned across the region.