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Speaker 1: So the government very busy weekend for them actually going

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Speaker 1: to dish out interest free loans to private companies to

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Speaker 1: build more EV charging stations around the country. This is

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Speaker 1: so if you've got a leaf or you've got an

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Speaker 1: iconic you can plug in and carry on your merry way.

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Speaker 1: It replaces the current grant scheme, the government putting sixty

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Speaker 1: eight and a half million dollars forward as interest free

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Speaker 1: loans for companies to build the infrastructure. Kirston Couson is

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Speaker 1: the chair of Drive Electric with me this morning. Kirston,

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Speaker 1: good morning, Good morning Ryan, great to have you on. Now.

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Speaker 1: Is this going to change the game, Well, we do need.

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Speaker 2: Something to change the game because we're definitely falling behind

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Speaker 2: the OECD, and it is positive to see the government

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Speaker 2: are still committed to the ten thousand charges by twenty thirty,

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Speaker 2: which is quite a target. So we're hoping it can

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Speaker 2: be a game changer.

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Speaker 1: But you sound a bit cautious.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's a new model. So the majority of OECD

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Speaker 2: countries have grant based funding and they do it because

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Speaker 2: it works. So for every dollar that the government invests,

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Speaker 2: they get around three dollars plus of economic benefit. You know,

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Speaker 2: it's a proven model, where this is a new model

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Speaker 2: and we've got eighty six hundred charges to get in

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Speaker 2: the ground by twenty thirty.

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Speaker 1: I guess the government's argument will be, well, they're better,

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Speaker 1: the private businesses will be better at doing it than

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Speaker 1: anyone else will. What about how easy is it to

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Speaker 1: actually get the charging systems and plugged into the grid.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's another challenge for us. It's not like an

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Speaker 2: ultra fast broadband rollout. Most OCD countries have around ten

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Speaker 2: lines companies, whereas New Zealand's got twenty nine. So twenty

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Speaker 2: nine lines companies with different pricing models, with different processes,

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Speaker 2: and there's a lack of visibility of network capacity as well.

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Speaker 2: So it's a lot harder to roll out charging infrastructure

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Speaker 2: than it is ultra fast broadband.

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Speaker 1: What is the difference between you know, different regions, if

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Speaker 1: you've got a different lines company, what is the potential

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Speaker 1: difference in cost?

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Speaker 2: Well, it can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. So

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Speaker 2: it may take you six weeks in one region to

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Speaker 2: figure out if there's enough network capacity on a transformer,

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Speaker 2: but it might take you three months in a different region.

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Speaker 2: So you know, it's quite challenging for the charge point operators,

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Speaker 2: and I guess another question for us is how this

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Speaker 2: program support rural New Zealand and our provinces, because it's

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Speaker 2: really appealing for our charge point operators to install our

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Speaker 2: charges public charges in the big cities where there's a

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Speaker 2: really strong economic return, but it's a little bit more

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Speaker 2: challenging to get the economic return in our provinces the

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Speaker 2: lower population base.

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Speaker 1: A really good point, Kristin. Really appreciate your analysis this

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Speaker 1: morning Kirsten Collson's share of Drive elect For more from

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Speaker 1: early edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talk

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Speaker 1: SETB from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on

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Speaker 1: iHeartRadio