News Blip:
New Zealand Moves Ahead With Roll Out of Electric RVs
NZ Herald Reports On A Test Launch Of Electric RVs Or Campervans In The South Island of New Zealand By The Largest Motorhome Rental Company In The Country.
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved through NZ Herald's website.
The New Zealand Herald reports that Tourism Holdings, that country’s largest motorhome rental company, will be running a trial with prototype electric camper van in the South Island after a North Island trial last summer, and hopes to have e-RVs available for rent later this year. The the company aims to have 5 percent of its fleet electric by 2020. The first vehicle in the trial was a Nissan e-NV200 minivan conversion into a 2-berth sleeper van. The company is now developing multiple design concepts with manufacturing partner Action Manufacturing.
This follows a similar trial by Jucy, an Auckland-based rental company that bought an electric vehicle six months ago and has converted it into an eco-friendly campervan. The driving force behind these innovations is a $402,000 grant by a government agency, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, to accelerate the availability of electric motorhomes, invest in charging equipment and develop itineraries with charging stations at intervals along the way. In total, the New Zealand government is investing more than $3.7 million to try to increase the number of electric vehicles in the country. Twenty different companies are getting a share of these funds and are using it to develop prototype electric camper vans, to convert electric vans into campers, and to install charging stations at campgrounds and along the nation’s highways.
For the original articles published by Grant Bradley and Aimee Shaw from the NZ Herald, click here and here.