A fast-charging station for electric cars will be a ''brilliant'' development for Dunedin, an electric car owner says.
Milton landlord Alex Gillanders bought an electric car about a year and a-half ago, as soon as he calculated how much it would save him on petrol and maintenance fees.
Plus, Mr Gillanders said, ''we can see the problems coming up with climate change - and coming up very quickly''.
His wife and foster son were also sensitive to petrol and diesel fumes, he said.
And for their foster son, who has a rare genetic condition that, among other things, requires he get a lot of rest, cars have been helpful in getting him to sleep.
''If it looks like he's sleeping, then we just trundle around the countryside for a while,'' he said.
But Mr Gillanders' use of the electric car had been limited because the charge only lasted about 100km.
One time, on a trip from Milton to Dunedin, the car had used half its electric charge by the time they got to Green Island, he said.
''So we thought, shall we turn around and go home, or shall we go on?''Another time, his car ran out of power in Waihola and he had to get a friend to pick him up.
''It's really frustrating to buy a really nice vehicle that's cheap to run, and there's not a single charger you can put it in.''
That could all change when a new fast charging station opens in Dunedin later this year.
Charge Net New Zealand mechanical services director Nick Smith made the announcement at an Otago Chamber of Commerce energy committee event last night.
''I think I can say now that we have a commitment to open the first fast charging station in Dunedin before Christmas,'' Mr Smith said.
The company planned to open 75 fast charging stations across New Zealand over the next three years, he said.
Dunedin was set to be the first in the South Island.
Charge Net NZ's first station is due to open in the next few weeks in Albany, about 140km from the first fast charging station in New Zealand, which opened in Whangarei last year.
Charge Net NZ's stations would allow many electric car owners to charge their vehicles in less than half an hour.
Mr Smith said the number of electric cars had ''exploded'' in Whangarei since the fast charging station opened there.
That explosion is what Mr Smith and his colleagues are hoping for in every town where they open a station. All that is left to work out is where Dunedin's station will go.
''We're just waiting to hit the go button,'' he said.
