This month’s hero is based in Timaru. Martin Kane is a Leaf owner with big plans for charging infrastructure in the rural South Island. His aim is to get enough charging stations in place, to drive his Leaf from Timaru across to the West Coast via the Haast Pass and back via Arthur’s Pass. On the way he will stop at the fish and chips shop at Jackson’s Bay – surely the first EV there.
The point is that there are already a lot of chargers in place. These are generally camp grounds. Martin is identifying these and not only that – actually visiting and talking to people about EV and charging. There are one or two gaps in the journey and Martin is working out how to get through these. The Lindis Pass is one such gap.
Martin would like to see charging infrastructure in Timaru. His aim is to invite the Christchurch EV group down to Timaru and have sufficient charging for the vehicles. He is in discussions with the council and local lines company – Alpine Energy.
Looking at the progress of the roll out fast chargers around New Zealand the next milestone will be to do this trip using only fast chargers.
