Seeking electric vehicle charging site in Waiuku
A Waiuku business with a spare car park and the desire to promote sustainability and local electric vehicle uptake is being sought.
Counties Power and the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA) are jointly funding a publicly available electric vehicle fast charging station for Waiuku township. A suitable parking space however is needed to host the station.
Counties Power chief executive Judy Nicholl said the initiative is a great opportunity for a Waiuku business.
‘‘The benefits to the business would be seeing short stay users in the space who would utilise local businesses. It usually takes around 20 minutes to charge a vehicle giving users ample time to do business or shopping in the town,’’ he said.
‘‘The benefits are not just economic to the business but also in helping the community by opening up Waiuku and its surrounding areas to EV drivers and supporting the environment.’’
Since its launch in July last year, the fast charger in Pukekohe CBD has attracted a large number of EV users with the charger being used more than 1,500 times, with usage time of more than 30,000 minutes.
Hosting the charger simply requires dedicating an existing parking space for EV charging. The ideal parking space would have easy 24-hour access and be in or close to Waiuku’s CBD. The business must commit to hosting the charger for a minimum of three years.
Counties Power will supply free power to the site and complete all installation and maintenance work of the site including signage, which can be jointly branded to promote the local business.
Counties Power offers fast charging stations for the public in the car park off Tobin Lane in Pukekohe’s CBD and also at their office on Glasgow Rd, Pukekohe.
Counties Power has run a fleet of three electric vehicles since 2013. One of the challenges on this trip, which they estimate will take around four months, is the long periods of isolation. The Mt Isa to Broome leg is particularly desolate.
‘‘We worked out there are about 94 cycle days and 34 of those are rough ones on the roadside because there is nothing else there,’’ said Cindy. ‘‘There are several stretches of up to four days without civilisation so we will have to pack all of our food and water with us. That’s 16-20 litres of water which is a lot of weight, and then you have to get used to eating dried foods. You always need emergency food too so we pack a lot of creamed rice and sardines.’’
Isolation is not the only chal-