Project Business Case (Moderate)

Wellington Public Places EV Charger
Rollout

WCC Project ID
1106
WCC Classification Tool
Moderate
Outcome
Senior Responsible
Liam Hodgetts
Business Owner
Alison Howard
Owner

Funding sought by
$3,310,000
Responsibility Centre
(As reported in the
this Business Case
(repaid within 10
(RC)
Funding Approach)
years)
Funding Source
(As reported in the
Recorded on Annual Plan   (Yes/No)
Funding Approach)

Template Properties
These are the details of the template used to create this document. This section cannot be edited.
Template Name
Project Business Case (Moderate)
Template Owner
Project Governance, Legal & Risk
Template Date
TBC
Template Version
V0.1
Document Properties
This table describes the properties of the document.
Author
Sigurd Magnusson
Project Manager
TBC
Location
Sustainability and Climate Change> Te Atakura> Business Cases
Business Case #13 - Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Document History
This table provides a history of changes made when completing this document.
Version No.
Date
Summary of Changes
V0.1
19 Feb 2020
Initial draft
V0.21
29 June 2020
Updated draft with feedback from colleagues

August 2020
Final draft
Final
19 May 2021
Final update to match LTP budget – Judy Ryan
Related Documents
This table lists the documents that support the Business Case (delete/add as applicable)
Document
Name and Link
Council Paper(s)
•  Te Atakura (First to Zero)
•  Towards 2040: Smart Capital
•  Wellington City Council Long-term Plan 2018-2028
•  Taone matua, taone warokore (Zero Carbon Capital)
•  Feedback from Taone matua, taone warokore (Zero
Carbon Capital)
Overall business case for Te
•  Business Case #0 - Te Atakura Business Case Package
Atakura package

Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 2 of 15

1.  Purpose of this Document
The  purpose  of  the  Business  Case  is  to  enable  a  robust  process  that  captures  what  the  project  (business
problem  or  business  need)  is,  what  investment  is  required,  what  are  the  available  options  and  associated
costs to deliver the preferred solution.
The five sections used within this document are based on good practice in both central and local government
and cover the following:
1.  The Case for Change
Reason for the project– provides supporting information as to why the project is required

2.  Options Analysis
Compare solutions – provides possible solution options and the preferred option

3.  Procurement Approach
Procurement strategy – provides options on how the solution will be obtained and from where

4.  Funding Approach
Funding arrangements – provides funding options, project/programme and ongoing costs

5.  Project Management Approach
Delivery  plan  –  provides  high  level  information  as  to  how  the  project/programme  is  going  to  be
managed and delivered

Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 4 of 15

2.  Executive Summary
The Business Case seeks formal approval to fund the installation of around 60 electric vehicle fast chargers
across  approximately  30  public  locations  around  our  city  by  June  2025,  in  concert  with  the  adoption  of
electric vehicles in our city.
Council  would  select  sites  at  our  highly  visited  pools,  libraries,  sports  facilities,  and  parks,  addressing  the
needs of communities and where regional visitors congregate. Because the public typically park for 60 to 90
minutes at these locations, the speed of charging equipment installed will be appropriately set to be neither
ultrafast nor too slow. Users are to enjoy our recreational facilities, and recharge while doing so.
This  investment  would  complement  charging  stations  installed  by  supermarkets,  fuel  retailers,  and  other
organisations,  who  by  themselves  are  assumed  to  deliver  at  last  half  of  the  needed  number  of  charging
stations,  and  may  offer  much  more  rapid  recharge  facilities,  but  still  not  in  the  quantity  or  geographical
coverage to address our full anticipated electric vehicle uptake.
2.1. Recommendation
That Council,
•  Updates internal policy to state that new builds and major upgrades to our public facilities
incorporate electric vehicle charging in their car parks. The specification will change from time to
time, and to begin with for any given location would be:
o  two 25kW DC fast chargers with two perpendicular car parks;
o  with transformer and cabling capacity of 100 kVA enabling future expansion to a total of four
chargers, where practical, cost effective, and appropriate.
•  Sets a capital budget of $3,310,000 phased from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2025, to install the above
specification at 30 locations. (This aligning to supporting the lower estimate for electric vehicle
uptake by 2024; assumes conservative market conditions and low government policy impact).
•  Tasks officers to look to set up a commercial return on investment of 10 years or less. (For example
by seeking government funding and private sector investment to reduce the capital investment by
50% to ~$1.5M, and by collecting revenue paid by drivers charging their vehicles to cover electricity
costs, operational costs, and repaying the remaining $1.5M capital cost within ten years.)
•  Tasks officers to continually monitor charger usage, electric vehicle update, and revise the charging
specification and funding sought accordingly.
3.  The Case for Change
3.1. Case for Change Outline
3.2. Background/ context
The Council’s Te Atakura First to Zero blueprint and the Government’s 2019 “Zero Carbon Act” cite globally
accepted climate science and set out ambitions to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050 at a Wellington City
and on a nationwide basis respectively.
36%  of  Wellington’s  emissions  are  from  road  transport.  Increasing  adoption  of  walking,  cycling,  and  (zero
emission) public transport offer the greatest means to reduce transport emissions. To the extent that private
vehicles remain necessary, electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions and provide a compelling alternative
to fossil fuel vehicles.
Most  electric  vehicle  owners  will  be  satisfied  by  or  able  to  charge  up  overnight  at  home.  However
international research and local evidence shows that almost all electric vehicle owners use a public charger
at  least  once  a  month,  usually  to  enable  longer  distance  travel.  In  Wellington,  residents  of  over  20,000
households cannot park their car on the property, meaning they are reliant on public charging facilities, and
moreso than is the case in Auckland, Christchurch, and other areas of New Zealand. Council therefore has a
role in seeing the charging station network develop.

A residential charger trial is currently underway and is gathering data. Late 2020, once the results of that trial
are  ready,  a  decision  and  potential  funding  case  can  be  put  forward  to  expand  that  initiative.  That  trial
currently  has  chargers  installed  in  14  residential  streets.  Its  purpose  is  to  support  streets  where  multiple
residents  lack  off-street  parking.  This  has  an  important  but  different  focus  to  than  what  is  possible  through
the installation of faster chargers at our key public destinations and facilities.
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 5 of 15

We have some early insights of usage of our existing public chargers to show there is demand for their use.
Noting  there  were  2700  electric  vehicles  in  the  Wellington  region  as  at  February  2020  (i.e.  pre  covid
lockdown), usage has been as follows for the prior four months:
•  Wellington Zoo (two fast chargers):   80 to 120 times per month between the two machines
•  Inglewood Place CBD (one fast charger): 95 to 125 uses per month
•  Barnett St (near Te Papa) (one fast charger): 183 to 223 uses per month
•  Grey St (CBD; one fast charger): 186 to 217 uses per month.
•  Bond  Street  (CBD;  one  slow  charger):  95  to  205  times  per  month  (note,  currently  no  cost  for
electricity, only cost for parking, so unclear whether this would reduce when electricity has to be
paid for. A software limitation is being resolved that will allow electricity costs to be charged for.)

As  electric  vehicle  numbers  grow,  they  will  exceed  the  capability  of  Wellington’s  nascent  charging  station
network.

3.3. Problem statement
Electric vehicle adoption will shift from obscure to mainstream over this decade.
Public electric vehicle charging equipment needs to keep up otherwise it will constrain  uptake and  frustrate
electric vehicle owners.

Source: Advisory Report - Supporting Electric Vehicles in the Wellington Region (September 2019).

Explanation of figures:
There are approximately 350,000 vehicles in the Wellington region (as at 2018). This figure rapidly grew by
more than 40,000 in the preceding four years. This compares to earlier years during an economic lull (2009-
2012) where the number of vehicles grew merely  by approximately 1000.   The impact  of Covid19  makes it
difficult to predict how much the regional fleet will grow out to 2024. A conservative estimate would suggest
slight contraction (i.e. that in 2024 we revert  down to the same number vehicles as we did in 2018)  and an
optimistic pathway would suggest vehicle growth continues unabated consistent with the previous few years.
The above graph should cover this range and suggests  somewhere between 4% and 8%  of vehicles being
electric in four years’ time. That equates to around 15,000 and 28,000 vehicles regionally. The upper bound
assumes better economic health and lower vehicle purchase prices (either from manufacturers or due to new
and effective government policy).

As at February 2020 there are 1300 electric vehicles in the Wellington City, approximately  50% of the 2700
electric  vehicles  regionally.  This  business  case  assumes  we  retain  a  50%  proportion  going  forward,  i.e.  a
minimum of 7,500 electric vehicles city-wide and 15,000 region-wide at the end of 2024.

3.4. Benefits of proposed solution
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 6 of 15

This business case has been assessed against the criteria in the Te Atakura climate action measurement
framework. (Appendix 1) The project-specific assessment is detailed in the table below:
Criteria
Score
Comments
Greenhouse gas reduction
Moderate GHG reduction
Emission savings calculated on the
potential per annum at 2030
potential per annum –
basis that charging stations “unlock” the
estimated at 1,531 TCO2e
ability for people to sell their petrol cars
and buy electric cars, which on average
saves almost two tonnes of CO2e per
year per vehicle. Without these charging
stations, substantially fewer electric
vehicles can be supported and
purchased, but with the stations, many
additional electric vehicles will moreover
follow.
Furthermore this initiative would
contribute to city and national carbon
reduction commitments by:-
•  Accelerating electric vehicle uptake
(by making it easier to recharge in
Wellington),
•  Encouraging electric vehicles to the
region
•  Increasing awareness and
credibility of electric vehicles
through a high profile project.
•  Enhancing opportunities for electric
car share.

Co-benefits
Equity & wellbeing
Minor potential benefit
Over 20,000 Wellington households
cannot park their car on the property,
meaning they are reliant on public
charging facilities. Installing public
chargers gives these residents access
to and the option to buy an electric
vehicle.
Resilience
Minor potential benefit
Improves the resilience of the
transportation by geographically
spreading the chargers and helps
reduce the reliance on fossil fuel
vehicles in the City.
Economy & jobs
No potential benefit

Environment
Minor potential benefit
Helps reduce emissions from road
transport which helps improve air
quality.
Investment by Council
Low - moderate investment
As detailed in section 6 below
Investment by Others
Low investment
As detailed in section 6 below.
Ease of implementing
Moderate
Some public engagement needed and
technical feasibility site to site needed.
Charging  stations  to  date  have  been
owned  and  operated  by  a  private
company;
Council
offers
such
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 7 of 15

companies a licence to occupy that acts
in  lieu  of  an  encroachment  licence  but
with  additional  terms  around  end-user
pricing,  and  the  safety  and  electrical
regulations  that  equipment  must  meet
and  the  health  and  risk  obligations  that
the external company agrees to take up.
This  approach  remains  relevant  going
forward.

4.  Options Analysis
4.1. Options Summary
Options Summary
•  Option  1:  Ad  hoc  reactive  funding.  This  our  current  state,  where  for  example  we  received  central
government and private sector funding to install chargers at Wellington Zoo and Waitohi Hub, but, are not
consistently  incorporating  EV  charging  into  the  construction  and  refurbishment  programmes  of  our
buildings,  nor  are  we  being  targeted  and  systematic  about  what  and  where  to  install  our  chargers,  nor
have  we  agreed  any  level  of  funding  being  contributed  by  Council,  central  government,  or  the  private
sector  going  forward.  This  risks  missing  opportunities,  spending  more  money  (digging  up  a  car  park
twice), and over- or under-provisioning chargers geographically. It also risks not  giving effect to our new
draft parking policy, which establishes that we offer EV charging at our destinations, but cannot itself offer
funding or implementation.
•  Option  2:  Systematic  funding.  This  is  our  ideal  future  state,  where  we  thoughtfully  select  and  install
chargers where needed, ensuring all areas of Wellington have a minimum level of provision, and look to
take advantage of incorporating EV chargers when in the midst of other works. This delivers best value
for  money  and  the  best  chance  of  supporting  electric  vehicle  update  and  therefore  carbon  reductions.
That  said,  it  won’t  be  straightforward,  as  predicting  exact  electric  vehicle  uptake  and  behaviour  can’t  be
perfect; this approach will need monitoring and refinement as it progresses.  This approach aligns to our
new  draft  parking  policy,  which  sets  a  priority  level  for  EV  charging  at  our  facilities  and  streets.  To  be
clear, this option sees Council fund some or all of the installation, looking to share upfront costs where we
can, but importantly, on the expectation that any upfront contribution by Council is repaid by operational
revenue within 10 years.
•  Other considerations and recommendations are also included in Appendix 3

4.2. Preferred Option
Preferred option:
Option 2 – a systematic approach to funding EV chargers across our network of public facilities, with funding,
and aligned to our new draft parking policy.
This replaces the adhoc and reactive approach taken to date.
5.  Procurement Approach
5.1. Procurement Options
Procurement options
•  Option 1: Nominate a charging provider/s.
•  Option 2: Run an RFP to gather different commercial models.

5.2. Contractual Approach
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 8 of 15

Charging  stations  to  date  have  been  owned  and  operated  by  a  private  company;  Council  offers  such
companies a licence to occupy that acts in lieu of an encroachment licence but with additional terms around
end-user pricing, and the safety and electrical regulations that equipment must meet and the health and risk
obligations  that  the  external  company  agrees  to  take  up.  This  approach  remains  relevant  going  forward.
Council  could  alternatively  choose  to  own  equipment  but  it  is  expected  the  electrical  and  physical
maintenance and customer support would remain outsourced.
6.  Funding Approach
6.1. Funding Arrangement
Estimated capital costs are as follows:

Description
Cost per Location
Locations
Total
Electrical conduit and cabling to car park, and
$40,000
30
$1,200,000
concrete foundations to enable a charger to be
readily bolted into place.

(Conservative estimate, allowing for complexity
or obstacles at various locations when
retrofitted at an existing building.
This figure will be much lower if performed
during the construction of a new building)
Set of two 25kW DC chargers
$30,000
30
$900,000
Contracted advice and project management

$240,000
(2 day/week; 48 weeks/year; 4 years @$80/hr)
Contingency
35%
30
$765,000

$3,105,000

Potential halving of capital costs:
The Low Emissions Vehicle Contestable Fund, administered by EECA, offers up to $500,000 on a dollar for
dollar co-funding basis towards public-good projects that support and accelerate electric vehicle adoption.
Funding is available every 6 months on a competitive application basis; multiple bids could be made over
time. The future of the funding initiative is not certain over the long term; ideally the first bid would be made
late 2020 or by mid 2021.

Council would have reasonable probability in securing one or two bids given our organisation’s size and track
record and the impact of this project. If successful, the additional funding would be used to halve the capital
costs, making a return on our investment more feasible.

Decision on whether to outsource chargers to private sector
The work to bring power out to the carpark is naturally within in the usual scope of Council activities, given
underground conduit, cabling, and the like are core infrastructure. The cost for this therefore is reasonable to
sit with Council, so long as (a) it ends up being inexpensive, such as when done at the time of a new build or
(b) in the case of retrofitting, there is a confidence to recover some or all of that spend over time through
operational revenue from the chargers.

The cost of the chargers themselves may end up being less that the other preparation work. It therefore is
not necessary to hand this off to the private sector as we have tended to do to date, especially where we
receive adequate co-funding from EECA and/or revenue from usage fees. A decision to pay for the chargers
does not necessarily mean we operate, own, or perform customer service; we could outsource those
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 9 of 15

elements. However, any decision to pay for the equipment should be met with an expectation that we could
recover this within 10 years.

To date, Council has offered other parties the opportunity to invest the majority of capital costs, and has
asked for no revenue in return, in part to stimulate and encourage the electric vehicle market. Going forward,
however, given the expected rise and maturity of the market, moving to a commercial model makes sense.

6.2. Funding Contingencies
The figures previous already contain a reasonable buffer for installation.
Should  dramatically  higher  installation  costs  be  determined,  Council  will  install  at  fewer  locations.  The
number  of  charging  equipment  across  the  city  may  still  be  retained  because  that  does  not  dramatically
increase installation cost.

6.3. Operational/Post Project Funding
To date, Council has enabled other commercial operators to install EV chargers, who at the present time,
collect all revenue from their operation.

Going forward, Council has the opportunity to collect revenue from the machines, in order to repay the
capital spent on their installation and maintenance. Drivers would necessarily have to pay a fee sufficient to
cover the electrical costs.

There is a possibility this could be revenue positive, in which case it could support the Council’s operating
income, in a fashion similar to how Council earns revenue through car parking fees, but to a lesser degree.

One option would be use PayMyPark app and charge for parking per hour at a rate that covers all necessary
costs (electricity, capital cost repayment, etc); this could provide an efficient form of revenue collection than
uses existing Council systems that the public are used to using. Interoperation with the ‘ChargeNetNZ’
payment system used nationwide is desirable but only if this can be negotiated at a fair price that does not
compromise Council’s ability to recover its capital investment.
7.  Project Management Approach
7.1. Implementation Plan
Implementation plan
The project will utilise the project management expertise and resource of PSR, and other teams where they
oversee  public  property  where  EV  chargers  are  being  installed,  as  part  of  building  refurbishments  and
constructions. The Energy Manager and the Sustainability team will provide hands-on subject matter advice
and support throughout.

7.2. Change Management Approach
n/a
7.3. Benefits Management Approach
Usage of machines will be recorded on a monthly basis.
Expectation is that during peak car parking periods where rest of the car park is full, that for the majority of time, the EV
charger car parks should likewise be in  use (charging). Otherwise the facility is too great an intrusion on other users of
the facility.
7.4. Next Steps
Following the approval of the Business Case:
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 10 of 15

1.  Work with affected business units to define and document the charger specification so that is
incorporated into future projects.
2.  Confirm funding and capital and operational financial model with Procurement, and as appropriate, make
investment case to EECA and private sector parties.
3.  Formulate a detailed and ordered list of locations to install chargers, and perform assessments around
electrical supply, car parking layout, and other necessary characteristic.
4.  Work with PSR and other teams to implement the chargers over the coming years.
5.  Monitor usage patterns and update methodology as appropriate.
8.  Recommendations
It is recommended that ELT approve this Business Case and the recommended preferred option presented
above.
Approve:
Name
Title
Date

Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 11 of 15

link to page 12 Appendix Two: Greenhouse gas emissions reduction potential modelling
An  estimate  of  carbon  savings  attributed  to  charging  stations  is  possible.  At  the  conservative  end  we  can
measure  the  direct  carbon  reduction  of  energy  provided  by  our  charging  stations  compared  to  that  energy
being dispensed at a petrol station.

Example: The Wellington Zoo site currently on average supplies about 720 kWh of electricity to cars
per month, or, if multiplied, about 8640kWh per year. Assuming an average that a car can drive 6km
per kWh, this results in an estimate that this station is delivering approximately 51,840km of driving
range per year.  The  average  vehicle  brought  into  the  New  Zealand  emits  180  grams  of  CO2e  per
km1  and  EECA  cites  that  the  average  electric  vehicle  offers  an  80%  reduction  in  CO2e. Multiplying
this  together  means  the  Wellington  Zoo  site  is  responsible  for  6.2  tonnes  of  CO2e  reduction  per
annum.

If the station were fully occupied (i.e. charging two vehicles at once) for 6 hours of the day (i.e. 25%
utilisation),  every  day  of  the  year,  that  would  add  to  109,500  kWh  or  657,000  km  of  driving  or  95
tonnes of CO2e reduction versus petrol, per year.

Using  these  two  examples  as  a  low  and  high  range,  multiplied  by  30  (the  number  of  locations
proposed by this business case) this offers a range of between 224 and 2838 tonnes of CO2e saved
per year. For context that relates to 0.06% and 0.77% of Wellington City’s overall road emissions.

However  the  electric  vehicles  using  our  stations  continue  to  run  on  electricity  wherever  they  charge
throughout their year, such as at home, and the above model ignores these much larger carbon savings.
An alternative approach to calculating emission savings is on basis that charging stations “unlock” the ability
for people to sell their petrol cars and buy electric cars, which on average saves almost two tonnes of CO2e
per year per vehicle. The challenge being how to estimate the number of vehicles  purchased as  a result  of
an  individual  charging  station  being  installed.  It  however  does  serve  as  a  ‘sanity  check’  for  the  earlier
calculation.

Example: It is predicted that in 2024 there will be at least 7,500 electric vehicles in the Wellington City.
This  equates  to  approximately  12,500  tonnes  of  CO22e  savings  and  a  3.4%  reduction  to  the  city’s
overall road transport emissions.

In the 2018/19FY, Wellington City road transportation (i.e. not bus, rail, air, marine) generated approximately
369,028 tonnes of CO2e per year. Such emissions are still rising given population growth and a current rise
in the ratio of cars to people in our region.
Therefore the CO2e savings are minor, at 0.06% to 3.4%, depending on how narrow or broad one chooses to
be as to the benefits of the proposal.
However, the value of this proposal is also in enabling so many electric vehicles to be on our roads, even if
they  are  only  periodically  (e.g.  once  per  month)  visiting  them.  This  is  because  15,000  electric  vehicles  do
offer  a  genuine  reduction  to  our  city  transport  emissions.  The  argument  is  that,  without  these  charging
stations,  substantially  fewer  electric  vehicles  can  be  supported  and  purchased,  but  with  the  stations,  many
additional  electric  vehicles  will  moreover  follow.  This  in  turn  allows  us  to  make  real  progress  towards  a
Wellington where all vehicles are electric.

1 transport.govt.nz/assets/Import/Uploads/Our-Work/Documents/c50c25f19c/Clean-car-standard-preliminary-SIA-July-2019.pdf
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 12 of 15

Appendix 3 Other considerations and recommendations.

Coverage.
How many of our facilities and parks should gain chargers? How many car parks at our facilities should offer
charging?
Recommendation:
Most  of  our  facilities  should  be  included,  and  they  should  offer  two  car  parks.  By  doing  so,  a    wide
spectrum of locations that Wellingtonians visit become equipped to charge an electric car.
If  only  a  single  charger  were  to  be  installed  this  lacks  redundancy  and  value  for  money  so  is  not
recommended.  If  more  than  two  chargers  are  installed  at  a  site,  this  presents  an  opportunity  cost
meaning  we  cannot  as  readily  achieve  geographical  diversity,  and,  in  the  short  term,  will  remove  too
much car parking from other users, given the majority of our facilities have limited car parking as it stands.
Where  possible,  we  should  future  proof  our  installations  to  make  it  cost  effective  to  expand  to  four
chargers  (or  more  where  deemed  appropriate),  which  we  would  only  do  when  usage  statistics
demonstrate the need.

Parking Restrictions.
What restrictions of time length, vehicles, and use, should apply to the car parks?
Recommendation:
•  A time restriction must be imposed in order to ensure vehicle turnover. The length should be P120,
which  is  familiar  for  people  as  is  consistent  to  many  other  parts  of  the  city,  and,  provides  a
reasonable amount of time for users to enjoy the attraction they are visiting (pool, library, etc), whilst
providing an encouragement to free up the car park for  other users. This time limit will enable most
vehicles  to  have  charged  up  fully,  or  where  not,  they  will  still  be  able  to  drive  multiple  hundred
kilometres  from  the  charging  session.  On  a  case  by  case  basis  officers  may  elect  to  reduce  or
increase  the  time  limit  where  there  is  an  overriding  reason  (e.g.  P60  where  there  is  insufficient  car
parking  and  the  location  naturally  does  not  provide  any  reason  to  stay  longer  than  an  hour,  noting
that this may reduce a car’s ability to charge sufficiently).
•  The car parks  should be for ‘electric vehicles only while charging’. Where this creates significant
hurdles  with  public  consultation,  resource  consents,  and  the  like,  this  can  be  relaxed.  In  any  case,
there must be signage on the charger and/or poles, and on the ground stating that the parks are for
‘electric vehicles only’ or ‘priority given to electric vehicles’.
•  Any  time  limit  and  electric-vehicles  only  restrictions  must  be  signed  posted  (and  as  necessary,
formally  agreed  in  bylaws)  as  being  for  ‘At  All  Times’.  Otherwise  evening  and  weekend  users  can
rightfully ‘ignore’ the rules.
•  The car parks and chargers should be restricted to the users of the adjacent facility (pool, library,
park/beach,  etc).  This  is  unenforceable  but  nevertheless  helpful  to  encourage  the  expected
behaviour.  Promotional  signage  can  support  this.  The  purpose  is  to  enhance  the  experience  of
visiting  our  popular  destinations  and  facilities,  i.e.  to  charge  their  vehicle  whilst  enjoying  a  walk,
swim, or taking out library books.
•  Note that the car parks should remain open on a 24/7 basis in order to maximise the convenience
and incentive to Wellingtonians adopting electric vehicles, and to enable the machines to operate on
a financially sustainable basis. In most cases this will go beyond the  opening hours of the facilities
they are outside, such as a pool or library, but this is not expected to provide any materially negative
consequence.  Out of ‘business’ hours,  drivers will instead be visiting primarily  for  the sake  of their
vehicle, which would likely be an urgent need.

Speed of equipment (electrical power level of chargers).
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 13 of 15

Unlike  petrol  stations,  electric  vehicle  chargers  can  operate  at  wildly  different  speeds,  or  more  specifically:
kilowatts  of  electrical  power.  The  result  is  that  recharging  can  take  anywhere  from  minutes  to  over  a  day.
What speed is relevant to our initiative?

Overview of options:
The main types are:

Regular 3 pin plug – no capital cost; 12 to 24+ hours to recharge fully.
2 kW AC

This  is  not  a  safe  or  practical  approach  for  this  business  case,  and  is  relevant  only  to  how
vehicles might recharge at overnight at home or indoors within fleet car parks.

Cheap to install; 4-10 hours to recharge fully.

7 kW AC
Does  not  align  to  the  typical  60-120  minute  stay  at  our  facilities.  Hard  to  commercially
operate because users will not perceive much value within 1-2 hours so may be less willing
to  pay  for  recharging.  Only  a  small  quantity  of  cars  can  be  served  during  a  24  hour  period
with this approach.

Moderately priced; 1-3 hours to recharge.
25 kW DC

Aligns to a 60-90 minute stay. Users will notice a lot of value (100 to 200km worth of driving
range  in  an  hour)  and  be  willing  to  pay  for  that.  Still  “slow”  enough  that  batteries  are  not
detrimentally heated when charging. Ideally suited to our use case and budget.

More expensive; 0.5 - 2 hours.

In  some  cases  will  charge  vehicle  faster  than  driver  is  ready.  Will  warm  older  style  EV
50 kW DC
batteries which is not ideal if used excessively; this problem does not occur with large battery
vehicles that have automatic cooling features.

Ideal if purchase price improves, as it offers a high benefit to visitors, without being so quick
as to assertively push cars away before people have finished their recreational visit.

Too  quick  to  suit  our  types  of  destinations.  We  don’t  want  to  invite  cars  to  our  pools  and
100 kW+ DC  parks  only  for  them  to  be  finished  charging  within  15  minutes; it  will  diminish  the  likelihood
they actively use the recreational facilities they are visiting. Likely that the commercial sector
will focus on this power level when replacing petrol stations; we do not need to compete with
this.

Recommendation:
Install 25kW (or 50kW facilities if capital costs become affordable). Keep watching brief over technology and
pricing changes and revise recommendation as needed

Exceptions to recommendation:
•  Where a typical vehicle dwells for much longer than two hours, or, where no perpendicular parking is
available,  different  types  of  equipment  will  need  to  be  installed.  The  Sustainability  team  can  give
advice in this case.
•  Locations that are expected to attract very high volumes of vehicles seeking recharging may benefit
from  greater  amounts  of  future  proofing  (bigger  transformer  sizes  or  greater  quantities  of  chargers
installed now).

Whose power connection? Future proofing energy decisions.
During implementation, the Council energy manager will investigate and make decisions on a case by case
basis on whether the charging stations are powered by either a: 1. An existing Council electricity account
(e.g. taking power from a switchboard at a library or pool), 2. A new Council electricity account (taking power
Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 14 of 15

from the street but Council paying), or 3. A new power account owned and paid for by another organisation,
such as a charging station provider.

Running the chargers from a Council account has various benefits and complexities. Benefits include:
1.  A likely lower cost for ongoing electrical supply. Council’s large electricity spend provides us with
cheaper electricity costs than what most businesses receive. This can offer a cheaper price to
drivers and/or better operational margin in order to recovery upfront capital costs.
2.  A greater feasibility in the future to install solar panels at the facility and have the chargers run
partially off them. This in turn would lower the carbon emissions and reduce the cost of electricity,
plus provide a visually compelling narrative that zero carbon ‘clean’ sunshine is charging your car.
3.  In some situations would reduce the installation cost and timeframe by taking power from the facility
rather than off the street supply.
4.  If the chargers are connected to a building’s electrical supply this leaves the installation future-
proofed also for Vehicle-To-Home technology. Under a scenario where the building was temporary
faced with a power outage, this enables one or more electric vehicles to discharge into a building to
power it electrically. This technology is commercially available today and has been used in a
widespread fashion in Japan following major disruption to power due to recent earthquakes, tsunami
and the shut-down of nuclear power stations. It complements solar panels, which reduce the
electrical supply needed from discharging vehicles. The chargers installed now do not require to
provide this capability as the equipment could swapped out as technology evolves and becomes
cheaper and more capable; the important element is having the cabling in place between the
building and chargers. Presently diesel generators have only sufficient fuel to run a building for a
day or two; the conversion to electric alternatives would be expected to be no worse.

Irrespective of this decision, drivers pay for the user of the machine plus a margin, which will recover both
direct operational costs (such as electricity volumetric and daily charges) plus over time repay the upfront
capital costs paid in.

Project Business Case (Moderate): Wellington Public Places EV Charger Rollout
Page 15 of 15

Document Outline

Project Business Case (Moderate)