Powered on in Darfield today is the first Electric Vehicle Charger west of Christchurch.
The Level 2 Destination charger was donated by local businessmen David Boot, owner of EV Car Dealership, EV CITY and
Simon Wheeler, owner of CHARGED EV, who also installed the charger with power supply and a carpark provided by the
Darfield Pharmacy.
“This charger was inspired by those pioneering customers living further afield who were at the limits of their range.”
David Boot says. “The Darfield Pharmacy Charger should provide a safety net for them and a stepping stone for others
traveling further west. EV City and Charged EV will now look to Castle Hill as the location for the next step on the
highway west”
It’s been a community effort organized by members of the Christchurch Electric Vehicle group, to get the ball rolling on
charging infrastructure in the region. Darfield member and EV enthusiast Jason Dickens was instrumental in getting the
interested parties together.
The ribbon cutting was performed by Sam Broughton, Selwyn District Mayor, who thinks EVs are the way of the future. He
says “It’s really good to have more of these [chargers] and help people get across to the West Coast. The uptake of EVs
is only growing, and I encourage everyone to think of an EV for their next car.
Several local EV owners and business representatives formed an electric convoy to drive out to Darfield today and
witness the ribbon ceremony.
Leading the Charge Christchurch EV Champion William Stewart, has been one of the people pushing for a Darfield charger.
“I went all electric this year and it’s been amazing, but the lack of access to the West Coast and ski fields has been a
big barrier for me and others.” He helps run events with the Christchurch Electric Vehicle group and is keen to
encourage others to get involved. “I think something like this really shows what the community can do when we get
together and pool resources. We’ve been waiting on Darfield charging for several years, but by getting a bunch of people
together, we’ve made this happen in just a couple of months – I think it shows how easy it can be to roll out small
scale electric charging infrastructure which then paves the way for the bigger guys”.
This charger is the first charger in what hopefully is a series of chargers to form a "Go West" Electric Highway,
proceeding to Castle Hill and Arthurs Pass. While these chargers aren’t a replacement for the convenience of Level 3
‘Rapid Chargers’, it’s hoped that they will fill in the gap in the network until companies like Chargenet or other
providers deploy the more capital intensive faster charging infrastructure.
Photographer - William Stewart
https://youtu.be/RoBvHcQ19ow
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