Charger will power buses in eight minutes
It will take 45,000 cellphone chargers to match the power of the country’s new and fastest bus charger.
Costing around $1.5 million, the charging station will be be installed in Wellington’s Island Bay suburb in June. It is thought to be the only one in the country and likely the southern hemisphere.
Tranzit Group transport and operations director Keven Snelgrove said the lightning-quick charger would leave most electric vehicle chargers in its dust, with its ability to fully charge an electric bus in eight minutes.
The supercharger would produce 450 kilowatts of power, while most electric car-charging stations can only produce 30 kilowatts – it would take them two hours to do the same job.
‘‘There is no other bus charger of that capacity in New Zealand – 120kW chargers are only just coming into New Zealand,’’ Snelgrove said.
‘‘The chargers that Tranzit has ordered are attached to the charge poles, with the poles being manufactured in New Zealand.’’
They planned to install the charging poles on Island Bay’s Reef St in June, and said by later that month the station would be operational.
He believed the supercharger was the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
With bus passenger trips expected to increase by 4 million by 2020, Tranzit’s supercharger would be one cog in helping passengers to get places faster, by enabling electric buses to operate all day.
Wellington City councillor David Lee said some commuters might have concerns about being aboard during charging but said they would be safe. ‘‘It’s a mass of electrons being transferred and loading into a battery in a very short time.
‘‘This is a smart transfer process.’’