Bus charged in eight minutes

A charging station which can fully power up an electric bus in eight minutes will be installed in Wellington this June.

Costing about $1.5 million, the Island Bay station is considered the fastest charger in New Zealand and the only one of its kind in the country, The Dominion Post reports.

The lightning-fast charger would leave most electric car chargers in its dust, Tranzit Group transport and operations director Keven Snelgrove says.

The supercharger can produce 450kW, while most EV charging stations produce 30kW, taking two hours to do the same job.

“There is no other bus charger of that capacity in New Zealand – 120kW chargers are only just coming into New Zealand,” Snelgrove says.

The chargers ordered by Tranzit are attached to charge poles which are made in New Zealand.

Tranzit expects the charging poles on Reef Street, Island Bay, will be operational later in June.

The supercharger is a step in helping bus passengers get places faster by allowing electric buses to operate all day.