Northpower Limited Media Statement

Date: 9 September 2016

Northpower will again be backing International Drive Electric Week when it launches tomorrow.

The company will have an EV on display in Forum North and will be involved in a number of initiatives from September 10-18, beginning at the Whangarei Grower’s market at 7am this Saturday.

Russell Watson, Northpower’s Network Engineering Manager, says the high uptake of electric vehicles in Northland is pleasing and he expects the market to continue growing strongly.

“An area like Whangarei is ideal for EV use, especially with the number of fast chargers and destination chargers in Northland,” says Mr Watson. “There are now fast chargers at Kaiwaka, Dargaville, central Whangarei, Tikipunga and Kawakawa and a number of destination chargers in Whangarei, Mangawhai, Dargaville, Tutukaka and Tikipunga and Marsden Cove.

Northpower is currently trialing a mini DC EV charger in partnership with the University of Canterbury which could be portable or fixed.

“The portable charger development is to give us the ability to quickly charge EVs when they run out of battery between EV charging stations (like roadside assistance), so this project has potential to be of national significance. We also see this as being as an intermediate charging option between the capacity offered by destination chargers and rapid chargers. Destination chargers are quite slow and can take up to five hours to charge a car, while the rapid charger can give a near-full charge in around 20 minutes.

“We are also doing ongoing research into the impact of EVs on the Northpower electricity network. ”

Northpower recently completed a mini-documentary on the New Zealand EV sector in partnership with EECA and Charge.Net – ‘Charging up North’.

“We are also continuing to monitor the performance of a various EV makes and models to determine their range so we can continue providing helpful information to current and potential EV owners,” says Mr Watson.

International Drive Electric Week is supported by The Better NZ Trust in conjunction with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). For more information on activities during International Drive Electric week visit: leadingthecharge.org.nz

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