EVs for Kerikeri Retirement Village

A fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) is due to start arriving in Kerikeri in February.

Four EVs will be obtained by the Kerikeri Retirement Village by May in a car share operation for its residents and staff.

The Kerikeri Village Trust is getting a Kia Soul and three Nissan Leaf EVs.

Eventually, the village wants to replace its three vans and a bus with EVs, possibly within five years.

It will also install a DC fast charger by about August which the public can use. The trust is working with the Northland Regional Council to find a suitable site.

The EV project has been boosted by a $67,250 grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) low emission vehicles contestable fund, the amount matched by the trust.

The trust is among 20 projects getting a total $3.74 million in the EECA’s third funding round.

Retirement village chief executive Hilary Sumpter says they hope to extend the EV car sharing to other senior residents around Kerikeri.

“We’re really excited about it,” she says. “This is about increasing energy efficiency, reducing the cost for residents and being environmentally responsible.”

Sumpter expects many other retirement villages to follow suit.

The Kerikeri village has about 120 residents and 140 staff, many of whom would use the EVs. “We have about 70-80 vehicles owned by residents,” Sumpter says.

“Many travel short distances but still have to pay for maintenance, fuel, insurance and the other costs of owning their cars.”

Car sharing costs and logistics have yet to be decided after discussions with interested residents.

The fleet will be known as the Kerikeri Electric Vehicle Network for Seniors, or KEVNS.

Kerikeri already has another EV charging station going in. It’s part of a joint project to get about seven installed on the road north from Kawakawa (which already has one) to near Cape Reinga, possibly by June.

More about the grants will feature in the EVtalk February magazine.