The Future of Ferries is Electric

Today, fellow Waitemata local board member Peter and I were pleased as punch to have a ride in the new electric hybrid ferry that will be crisscrossing the Waitemata for the next thirty years. Later this year there will be two completely electric ferries entering the fleet as well.

At that point the Queens Wharf charging system will be complete. Over the summer and beyond, there will be an opportunity to assess everything, allow more technological innovation to be done, and build confidence before acquiring more vessels (though there is certainly a desire to do so). This might happen quickly though. The first electric bus was rolled out in 2018 - now we have 394 of them and it won't be long before they make up a third of the fleet.

This ferry has an electric system and diesel back up. It will use 790,000 litres less fuel p.a. than a standard diesel ferry. This makes it cheaper over its lifespan and it smells much nicer. It can go 50kph. There is room for bikes inside (28 max). It is made by a NZ company who is enjoying giving advice on electric ferries to Australia (who are behind us on this one apparently).

With charging infrastructure there isn't an international standard so staff are learning as they go, and, I infer, playing a role in establishing the standard. Certainly the goal is to replicate infrastructure in future with tweaks to become more efficient etc. Since these ferries were purchased AT has bought three more diesel ferries at $8m a pop - which is significantly less than the $20m upfront cost for the "Waitemata 1" - but over time the picture looks different. With diesel costs going up, the "savings" might be similar to those experienced by the owners of a particular type of colour-jet printer . . .