We just recorded New Zealand’s fastest EV charging speed yet

We charged an XPeng X9 at more than 300kW this week, the fastest EV charging speed we’ve recorded in New Zealand, using one of ChargeNet’s 400kW Alpitronic Hypercharger units at Kaiwaka. Fittingly, one of the country’s earliest fast charging sites, dating back to 2015, is a few hundred metres up the road and still in service, giving this stretch of State Highway 1 two generations of New Zealand charging infrastructure within sight of each other.

The chargers at this site are recent replacements after the originals had their cables cut, part of a wider wave of copper cable theft that has hit charging sites around the country this year. ChargeNet has used the opportunity to step up the hardware: the originals were 300kW Alpitronic Hypercharger units, replaced with the 400kW version of the same Italian-built Hyperchargers, capable of splitting output across two or three vehicles with dynamic load balancing so the power goes where it is needed most.

Worth noting: this site is currently running at a reduced output while ChargeNet validates that the grid connection can support the charger’s full potential. What we recorded is not yet the ceiling. Once that process is complete, sessions here should get quicker still.

The car we tested was the AWD Long Range, XPeng’s flagship X9 variant, running a 110kWh NCM battery and dual motors producing a combined 370kW and 640Nm. That is a considerably bigger, more energy-dense pack than the entry Standard Range’s 94.8kWh LFP battery, and it is the larger NCM pack that unlocks the faster charging, as detailed in our report on X9 pricing and specs earlier this year. XPeng rates the AWD Long Range’s peak DC charging speed at 540kW, so what we recorded at Kaiwaka is still well short of the car’s ceiling, and an even bigger charger than this site’s 400kW units would be needed to find out just how quick it can really go.

More than 300kW is a rate few chargers in New Zealand can currently deliver, let alone a family-sized seven-seat MPV can currently accept.

It is also a useful marker for where the local network needs to head. As more ultra-fast-capable EVs reach New Zealand, chargers able to feed them at their full rate become the limiting factor rather than the cars themselves. Alpitronic’s hardware is designed with exactly that gap in mind, and its robust, vandal-resistant housing is a pointed detail given what put the original units out of action here in the first place.

We will keep an eye on this site and update you once ChargeNet confirms it is running at full power. For the full national picture, our charging news page tracks the networks, hardware and new sites as they come online.