Published on: Wednesday, November 9, 2022

New Plymouth Airport adds power to the EV movement

The New Plymouth Airport has installed two electric vehicle recharge stations within its public car park, charging up to four vehicles at any one time. There will be no cost to “fuel up” at the stations which is a joint venture between the airport and electricity distribution company Powerco.

The stations house two 7-kilowatt rapid charge and two 22-kilowatt fast charge units. The charging of a vehicle can begin as soon as it’s plugged in.

 Airport Chief Executive, David Scott, says the initiative resulted from public demand.

“We had noticed an uptick in car park use by EVs and had fielded a number of inquiries from the public about if and when chargers would be installed. We approached Powerco who were more than happy to come on board.”

Statistics NZ says the imports of fully electric vehicles have more than tripled in the year ended March 2022. It goes on to state reduced emission vehicles have grown from a share of 8.2 to 21 percent of New Zealand’s passenger fleet.

Scott says any EV owner can use the car park charging facilities whether they’re flying or not.

“We and Powerco see the initiative as another boost to Taranaki’s charging station stocks and the Airport’s goal of eventually becoming carbon neutral.”

Powerco’s General Manager Business Development Eric Pellicer says Powerco is expecting to see more EV charging infrastructure on its network as Aotearoa moves to reduce its carbon footprint.

“As more kiwis switch to EVs it’s important to enable the installation of chargers in convenient locations. That’s why we were pleased to facilitate the design, installation, and connection of these chargers in collaboration with the Wells Instrumentation and Electrical team on behalf of New Plymouth Airport. It’s great to see them ready to use.”

By next year the airport aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 30 percent from its 2018 levels. To this end the airport has also installed two EV charging stations in its premium car park, charging up to two vehicles at any one time.

According to the New Zealand Transport Agency website, Taranaki has eight 50 kW charging stations, two each in New Plymouth, Opunake, Hawera, and Waverley.