EV owners 'subsidy' alleged in $98k Island Bay electric car chargers

Tuesday, 5 November 2024

Electric car charger in Island Bay was installed by the Wellington City Council at the cost of $98k.

The Wellington City Council spent $98,000 on two new electric car charging stations, dubbed a subsidy for “rich Tesla owners”, despite the programme being under review for possible cancellation.

The council in June signed off its long-term plan, though it is now having to amend it, including a review of its “Charged Up Capital” programme to install 60 electric car charging stations in the capital.

Figures released on the FYI website under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act shows that two new electric car charging stations, opposite the New World supermarket in Island Bay, were opened on September 12 at a cost of $97,848.

The council in 2021 put aside $3.31 million for the Charged Up project and received an additional $500,000 of co-funding from the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority.

Electric car chargers in Island Bay were installed by the Wellington City Council at the cost of $98,000.

So far, 34 have been installed. But in the 2024 long-term plan, signed off in June, councillors asked for the programme to be reviewed.

Council spokesperson Richard MacLean confirmed possible cancellation was on the cards.

The chargers, on Medway St, were approved by a council committee on April 4 and a later long-term plan committee on May 30 voted to retain funding for all chargers already approved. Since opening, the Island Bay chargers had been used 128 times, he said.

Local ward councillor Nureddin Abdurahman, who voted for the review of the programme, said he saw merit in the policy but it seemed “tone deaf and out of touch”.

“I voted against what I see as a subsidisation for rich Tesla owners.”

He was yet to see a car using the car parks.

“It makes me angry that the council is providing parking space and electric charging for rich Tesla owners while my community, specially the seniors, the disabled and mothers with children, struggle to find parking around the Island Bay shopping area,” he said.

The council recently reconfigured the nearby shopping centre and removed some parking in the process. Abdurahman had a vote coming to the council in late-November to turn unused council land behind the Island Bay library into parking.

Meeting minutes from May show the council’s regulatory processes committee then voted down four new sites for chargers, on McKeefry Grove and Gee St in Tawa, Kensington St in Te Aro, and Lewer St in Karori.

Committee chairperson Sarah Free said the council felt it had met its obligations and there was a feeling that it was an “equity” issue, with the council effectively saving parking for electric vehicle owners.

“Electric cars are still expensive,” she said.