Vector offers EV journey planning app to drivers in New Zealand

Energy company 8808 Vector has partnered with Dutch start-up Chargetrip to launch an electric vehicle (EV) journey planning app in New Zealand aimed at reducing ‘range anxiety’ for drivers.
 
Range anxiety is a term used to describe the stress EV users experience when their destination could be further than their vehicle can travel without charging.

The project, supported by growth accelerator Elemental Excelarator, is seeking to help drivers switch to electric driving.

The app will offer information on the location and the availability of charging locations as well as environmental factors which can impact EV batteries, such as topography and temperature.

Vector says the app will provide drivers with information on carbon dioxide savings per journey and will be compatible with all types of EVs.

It will utilise data from 6296 New Zealand Transport Agency’s EVRoam database, which collects data directly from EV charging infrastructure providers and freely distributes it to a wide range of transport maps, apps and websites.

Cleaner modes of transport are already being phased into New Zealand. Last August, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority <%$Linker:2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external pledgedfalsehttp://www.itsinternational.com/sections/general/news/eeca-grant-to-convert-50-former-trolley-buses-to-electric/falsefalse%> a $763,000 grant to the capital city Wellington to convert 50 trolley buses to battery power.