EECA has $4 million in a Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund to co-fund initiatives that will help address the country’s transport emissions and make the most of our renewably generated electricity. In in the first year they are looking for EV car-sharing schemes, demonstrations of vehicle types not currently used in New Zealand, and creating tourism routes using electric vehicles.
A small group of people has already met once at the Valley Community Workspace, to discuss initiatives that might work in Dunedin, particularly EV car sharing. We’re meeting again this Sunday. Join us if you’re interested!
Several cities in New Zealand, including Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland, have EV car sharing proposals that are likely to seek support from the EECA fund.
Car sharing schemes overseas commonly involve swipe-card access to a shared fleet of vehicles. Users just pay for the time they have the car. They have been shown to reduce car traffic, support active and public transport, and save money.
In Northeast Valley, that could conceivably involve a centrally located small fleet of EVs, that members of a car share scheme would book on their phone or on their computer by the hour.
Discussions in the Valley so far have thrown up a couple of proposals, but there is still time for more.
A survey to gauge interest in an EV car-sharing scheme has been set up at this web address: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TLD6LJ7.