A new charging station which opened yesterday in Whakatāne is expected to make it more convenient for electric vehicle drivers living in and visiting the Eastern Bay.

The charging station is one of 29 being delivered around the country by Plug and Save with funding from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

Plug and Save managing director Deon Cooper said the Whakatāne project was initially way down on the list of priorities, but jumped the queue after EV owners were canvassed and local need for more chargers was found to be high.

They found there were many EV owners, but not a lot of charging capacity with only one other public charger in town.

In response to the installation, Plug and Save has received numerous messages from people saying they will visit Whakatāne to see family more often now with a reliable way to charge their vehicle.

Mr Cooper said some drivers were hesitant about making the trip over from places such as Rotorua because the local charger was often full.

The 160-kilowatt fast chargers at The Hub have capacity to charge six cars at a time, with EV owner Zoe Gosbee able to charge her car to 80 percent in 18 minutes, which was faster than other chargers she has used.

Mrs Gosbee and her husband popped by to try the new charging station yesterday on their way out of Whakatāne.

She said The Hub was the ideal location for the charger.

“You want to be able to come and do whatever you want to do, then go home with a charged car.”

Mr Cooper said to supply six chargers with 160 kilowatts of electricity would ordinarily require hundreds of thousands of dollars in infrastructure.

Plug and Save’s charger uses the Du-Power system with a battery storage unit supplied by 100 amps of electricity from Horizon Energy.

“So, in a power cut, you can come here and charge your car,” Mr Cooper said.

Payment is by PayWave or the option of the Nova Charge Hub app, rather than drivers being required to sign up to a loyalty programme.

The location for the charging station was selected for its proximity to the main road and convenience for users.

“I hope that it helps tourism in the area. You can imagine Rhythm and Vines traffic, people travelling through will stop; there is a toilet, Columbus Coffee is really good here.

“It is going to be so good for the town.”