Electric car scheme derided by Taxi Federation

Auckland Transport Chairman Dr Lester Levy. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Auckland Transport's proposed electric car-share scheme has been welcomed by associations representing bus and rental vehicle firms while being derided by the Taxi Federation.

The council body's chairman, Lester Levy, said overseas evidence suggested a 250 to 500-car scheme his organisation wants an independent operator to establish by 2016-17 will remove thousands of private vehicles rather than taxis off Auckland's congested roads.

He also suggests rental vehicle companies may be interested in participating in a membership-oriented electric car scheme, for which Auckland Transport yesterday issued a global request for proposals.

Bus and Coach Association chief Barry Kidd, who doubles as head of the Rental Vehicle Association, says such a scheme would be "another great initiative as Auckland develops a 21st Century integrated transport system."

"We see this as expanding the market for public transport and shared transport, and complementing rather than directly competing for passengers," he told the Herald today.

Asked whether rental vehicle firms would see it that way as well, Mr Kidd said he believed car-share would serve shorter-term needs for travel rather than cutting into his members' business.

"It just provides another option and anything that makes it easier to get around is to be welcomed."

But Taxi Federation executive director Roger Heale said taxis were already ahead of the innovation curve by operating more than 700 hybrid petrol-electric cars in Auckland alone.

A trial pure electric cab also went into service in Whangarei just last week, and his industry was keen on discovering how it performed and its operating costs, currently subsidised by free electricity from Northpower and not having to pay road user charges until 2020.

He is asking why Auckland Transport did not look for local answers before going global.

"There is local capability leading the way - why can't they just talk to us as opposed to announcing these grandiose schemes?"

Mr Heale said he intended challenging Auckland Transport on its scheme at a meeting with it tomorrow.

Local car-share operator City Hop, with 25 petrol cars in Auckland and three in Wellington, is also miffed by the global outreach.

Dr Levy said his organisation would welcome responses from that company and a "social" car-sharing scheme on Waiheke Island to its invitation for proposals based on zero-emissions electric vehicles

He emphasised that an electric car-share scheme would not involve Auckland Transport and ratepayers in any capital costs, although dedicated parking spaces would be made available to a successful tenderer.

The request for scheme proposals notes that Auckland Council and its subsidiaries run more than 1000 vehicles and it may be viable to reduce the transport organisation's fleet by 25 to 50 per cent in favour of car-sharing.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown, who drives a V6 Holden Commodore burning an average of 9.3 litres of fossil fuel for every 100 kilometres travelled, says he will "certainly consider using EV [electric vehicle] car share for some of my travel."