Port of Tauranga to trial NZ’s first electric straddle carrier
A Kalmar electric straddle carrier is being assembled at Port of Tauranga for a trial later this year, backed by $447,000 from EECA.
Port of Tauranga is set to trial New Zealand’s first fully electric straddle carrier, the tall machines that move shipping containers around the terminal.
The Kalmar straddle is being assembled at the port’s container terminal and is expected to start trials later this year. The project will cost more than $3.5 million, including $447,000 from EECA’s Low Emission Transport Fund.
Straddle carriers move containers to and from the ship’s side and can drive over rows stacked up to three containers high. Electric versions have not been tested in New Zealand port conditions before.
The trial will assess operational impacts, charging times, driver acceptance, training, reliability, safety and maintenance.
New Zealand’s busiest port runs 53 straddle carriers, around a third of the national fleet. It is also adding six more Kalmar hybrid straddles.
“Since 2020, we have already introduced seven hybrids and they have proven to be about 25% more fuel efficient than our older diesel-electric models,” the port said.
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