EECA funding Auckland electric bus trial

Auckland Transport (AT) has won funding for a trial of electric buses and related infrastructure from the EECA low emission vehicles contestable fund.

EECA is awarding AT up to $500,000 to partially fund an electric bus trial starting later this year and nearly $300,000 for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Funding will allow the installation of 60 EV charging stations at AT parking facilities around Auckland.

AT is topping up the funding for trialling two electric buses as it develops a clean bus roadmap for Auckland.

It says that modern electric buses can have a range of more than 200 km with one charge and also are fast charge capable. Overnight charging is also possible.

“We will trial two E-Buses to gather real operating data and to raise public awareness of the technology, says AT Metro chief officer Mark Lambert.

“We expect them to be used over different routes and conditions to test them fully,” says Lambert.

He also says AT is always reviewing plans to ensure consideration of emerging technology such as E-Buses when planning and delivering new infrastructure and services.

“One of our challenges is to accurately estimate when this technology will meet the needs of our customers and service and route characteristics and also commercial viability,” says Lambert.

Lambert says the EECA grant means that a full trial can begin later this year.