Big Street Bikers planning electric charging stations across Auckland

Big Street Bikers electric bike rechargery in Auckland's Viaduct. Photo / Supplied

Matt Weavers and his company Big Street Bikers are on a mission to convert Auckland commuters from four wheels to two.

The electric bike company has partnered with energy company Mercury to develop a public, solar-powered electric bike recharging station in the Viaduct, with plans to roll out smaller versions across the city this year.

The pilot scheme will run until the end of summer when Weavers hopes to set up the next recharging stations, which will support Auckland Transport's connected bike network plans.

Weavers says planning a point-to-point recharging system across the city may seem ambitious, but the company is already in talks with a number of major property owners and companies, looking to have rechargeries in their apartment buildings or for their workers.

"We are seeing a lot more people using electric bikes and it's a great solution to Auckland's traffic problems," Weavers said.

"Our plan is to have these all around the city and there are a whole lot of investors who are keen to put up some cash which will help us roll it out."

Cycling has been growing in popularity with more than 1,000 new cyclists on the roads every month according to Auckland Transport.

Statistics from the government agency also showed 177,574 cycle trips were recorded in November 2017, up 19.4 per cent on the previous year.

The main issue with electric bikes however was their cost, Weavers said.

"You could easily spend $8,000 on an electric bike so part of what we're doing to alleviate that is selling them on subscription.

"You can put down $250 and then pay off the bike at $30 a week so it's a ride-to-own model and it works out cheaper than the bus," he said.

A mechanic tunes up a bike at the rechargery. Photo / Supplied

The company's electric bikes are $2,500 to buy outright but Weavers said electric bikes in general would become cheaper as they became more popular.

Mercury chief marketing officer Julia Jack said the company was excited to partner with Big Street Bikers to encourage Kiwis to use electric bikes.