Toyota installing free EV charging at dealerships

Free electric vehicle charging points will be installed at Toyota dealerships around New Zealand.

These will start with Manukau, Greenlane, Auckland City, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Wellington and Christchurch later this year, Toyota New Zealand chief executive officer Alistair Davis says.

It’s to help overcome the challenge of limited availability of public charging stations.

He says Toyota New Zealand is committed to reducing its carbon emissions while simultaneously striving to grow its market share.

That’s timely with the Ministry for the Environment releasing its ‘Our Atmosphere and Climate 2017’ report findings.

“As the world shifts towards a low carbon future, the automotive and transportation industries have a critical role to play,” Davis says.

Globally, Toyota remains active in the development of alternative drive train technologies including electric, hybrid and hydrogen vehicles and has licenced patents to other vehicle manufacturers to support the wider uptake of these low emission technologies.

“The high proportion of renewable electricity in New Zealand means the conversion of the national fleet to electric and hybrid vehicles will play a crucial role in meeting the country’s commitment to reducing CO2 emissions,” Davis says.

Toyota continues to expand its range of hybrid vehicles available in New Zealand in response to growing demand and recently introduced a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHV) to its used model line-up, under the Signature Class brand, as a more affordable market offering.”

In the last financial year, Toyota and Lexus sold more than 1500 hybrid vehicles in New Zealand for a 98.8% share of the hybrid vehicle market.

Since its introduction here 14 years ago, Toyota has sold over 4798 new Prius hybrids. More recently, the uptake of cleaner powertrains is building momentum with more than 3000 Camry hybrids and 500 Corolla hybrids sold.

Toyota also runs a hybrid battery recycling programme.

Its global challenge is to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.