More hypercharger sites coming soon

ChargeNet has confirmed it will add more 300kW hypercharger sites after receiving more Government funding as part of the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund.

Three more sites are planned for Waikato, Wellington and Queenstown. Two 300kW chargers will be installed at each area, able to charge up to six EVs per site simultaneously.

Four Combined Charging System (CCS) vehicles will be able to use the full 300kW amount, along with two CHAdeMO at up to 62kW.

EVs like the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT that can take advantage of the full rate will be able to add up to 400km of range in 15 minutes.

‘‘Since the introduction of the Clean Car Standard and Clean Car Discount, we’ve already seen an increase in customer sign-ups and charging sessions,’’ said Steve West, ChargeNet chief executive and co-founder.

‘‘In establishing a hyper-rapid EV charging network, we are providing world-class charging speeds and directly addressing congestion from growing demand, long before it occurs.’’

A total of 18 hyperchargers are being built along major driving routes from

Kaiwaka to Queenstown over the next 18 months. Right now, two stations are operational, those at the Bombay and Taupo¯ .

Ten other sites include Kaiwaka, Auckland’s North Shore, Waikato, Tauranga, Rotorua, Bulls, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin.

All are completely powered by renewable energy and supplement the

256-plus already-available ChargeNet chargers nationwide.

New vehicle distributors also continue to offer charging options to the buyers of their cars, with the likes of Audi offering

50kW chargers at all of its dealerships, as well as rolling out 175kW DC fast chargers at a number of them.