NZTA moves to set up electric vehicle charging stations nationwide

The NZ Transport Agency is seeking information for a nationwide electric vehicle charging infrastructure as it looks to roll out a further 41 electric vehicles across its fleet.

In a request for information notice, NZTA says it wants to gather market intelligence which it will use to inform its approach when buying charging products and services, but won't use the process to select or shortlist suppliers.

NZTA will replace 139 of its 146 leased vehicles over the next 12 months. It currently has two electric vehicles, one in Wellington and one in Auckland, and expects new EVs will be rolled out across different offices with a range of one to eight vehicles per site, with 15 in Auckland in two different sites, six in Hamilton, one in Tauranga. one in Napier, five in Palmerston North, eight in Wellington, one in Blenheim, two in Christchurch and two in Dunedin.

The initial scope is for 41 EVs to be added in 2018 but it is likely other fleet cars will be replaced with electric vehicles over the next three-to-five years, NZTA said. The request covers information about providing, installing, operating and maintaining the charging stations. It does not include supply of EVs.

NZTA says it is ideally looking for a fleet charging solution that would "enable staff to confidently move to and from NZTA locations in fully electric vehicles". It wants a solution that maximises the utility of the EVs, mitigates any peak demand pricing impacts, complies with safety law and guidelines, conserves vehicle battery healthy, has the potential to integrate with existing software, is scalable and is suitable for varying sites across New Zealand.

In May 2016 the previous government announced an electric vehicles programme aimed at increasing the uptake of electric vehicles in New Zealand to take advantage of renewable energy and reduce emissions. In a November speech, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government would require state-owned enterprises and other government organisations to pursue low-carbon options and technologies, including electric vehicles for all government vehicle fleets.

EVs are becoming more popular, with 3,645 light EVs, including plug-in hybrids, registered in 2017, according to Ministry of Transport statistics. The number is up 140 percent on the year.

Responses for the request for information are due on Jan. 29. NZTA then expects to provide an update to participants who submitted a response on the next step in the process on Feb. 2.

(BusinessDesk)