Hutt City Council and Meridian Energy have collaborated to install 38 new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai / Lower Hutt, ensuring that most residents now live within 3-4km of an EV charging station.

Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry will host an event to celebrate the opening of these charging stations at Avalon Playground carpark on Saturday 10 June (10am to 12pm), where residents will be able to take an electric vehicle for a test drive.

The 20 direct current (DC) and 18 alternating current (AC) charging stations have been installed since December 2021 with co-funding from the Government’s Low Emission Transport Fund (LETF), administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (the EECA).

"As we front up to climate change, we need to make it easier for our people to reduce emissions as they get around our city," said Mayor Barry. "That includes making it easier to use an electric vehicle across Lower Hutt by increasing our EV charging infrastructure.

"I’m pleased to be officially opening some of our new EV charging stations this weekend and encourage residents to come down to Avalon to check them out. There may be an opportunity to test-drive an electric vehicle too!"

Hutt City Council has invested $830,000 of the total $1.2 million cost, with $370,000 co-funded by EECA.

Jörn Scherzer, Head of Climate & Solid Waste at Hutt City Council, added: "Half the Hutt City Council fleet is already electric, and EVs are now a normal part of Council operations. We’re delighted to be doing this mahi in partnership with Meridian to enable the wider community to go electric."

You can find these Hutt City Council electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at:

• Seaview Marina
• Moera Library
• Walter Nash Centre
• Kōraunui Stokes Valley Community Hub
• Avalon Playground
• Wainuiomata Community Hub

Other EV charging locations in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai / Lower Hutt include:

• Ricoh Sports Centre
• BP Melling
• Queensgate Shopping Centre (rooftop carpark, next to the Level 2 entrance)
• Dowse Museum
• Countdown Wainuiomata
• Petone PAK'nSAVE
• Z Petone
• Days Bay
• Williams Park, Eastbourne Village

You can explore EV charging stations in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai / Lower Hutt and beyond here or at Plugshare. Notes to editor: All sites feature 25kW units, which add about 100km of range with a 40 minute charge for a typical EV. The sites at Avalon Playground at Fairway Drive and the Wainuiomata library also feature a 75kW unit each, meaning that they can add about 100km of range with a 15 minute charge. The Government’s draft EV charging strategy, currently out for consultation, aims for one public charging station with limited off-street parking for every 20-40 EVs in urban areas, and for all settlements with a population of 2000 or more to have public charging at municipal or community facilities by 2025. As of March 2023, there were 1,844 EVs registered in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai / Lower Hutt. This means that Hutt City Council’s current charging station to EV ratio is 27. Without Council’s investment into EV charging stations, the ratio would be at 61, outside the Government’s recommended range. The majority of the charging stations are located at Lower Hutt community facilities, in alignment with the Government’s strategy’s objective to have charging at all key Council facilities. This means that Lower Hutt has already achieved the Government’s 2025 objective.

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