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Port Otago’s light vehicle fleet of electric vans and cars. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT
Port Otago’s light vehicle fleet of electric vans and cars. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT
Port Otago has spent $500,000 switching its light vehicle fleet to electric over the past few months.

The port company’s light vehicle fleet was now almost fully electric, project manager Jodi Taylor said.

Two light trucks were being customised and were on their way to Port Chalmers, Ms Taylor said.

Upon their arrival, the port company would have 10 low-emission vehicles in total — eight electric and two hybrid, she said.

The average age of the light vehicle fleet was 17 years before the replacement programme began in December.

While Port Otago knew it was time to replace its ageing fleet with modern, fit-for-purpose vehicles, it was only recently that the battery technology and price reached the point for the switch over to be viable, she said.

The move to electric vehicles was driven by the need to better understand and measure the company’s carbon footprint, Ms Taylor said.

"While our light vehicle fleet’s emissions are relatively tiny compared to our other business activities, the change is a step in the right direction as we undertake our sustainability journey," she said.

hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz

 

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Marine vessels, trucks, locomotives, and off-road equipment used for moving cargo. The air quality and pollution impacts of ports are significant, with particularly large emissions of diesel exhaust, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides. The health effects of these air pollutants to residents of local communities include asthma, other respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and premature mortality. In children, there are links with asthma, bronchitis, missed school days, and emergency room visits. The significance of these environmental health impacts requires aggressive efforts to mitigate the problem.

As a regional council owned business rate payers and local residents should know the full environmental impacts on all port operations including that of the ships and transport of inward goods. We need an independent environmental audit made publicly available and targets set for better environmental outcomes. In the meantime Port Otago should commit to switch to 100% shore power hookups and zero-emission cargo-handling equipment by 2030, and zero-emission trucks by 2035.

"The average age of the light vehicle fleet was 17 years before the replacement programme began in December."
I wonder how many years they will get out of these vehicles and how many years use the the new owners of the 'replaced' vehicles will get.
EV's secondhand market is going to have a profound effect on those that can't afford new. The useful life of a vehicle is limited by the cost of it's most expensive replaceable part. In the case of EV's that is the fuel tank (battery).
Tesla, who appear to have the most robust battery technology claim to get 1000 cycles, provided it's not deep cycled, before it drops below 95% capacity and starts it's decline.
They have recently lodged a patient on what they hope will prove to be a million mile battery but it is still years from production.
(https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2020/12/30/teslas-new-lithium-io...)
Recycling is an issue.
Battery technology is still changing so the prospect of recycling is limited even on a global scale.
Have you seen the cost of disposing of e-waste.
https://www.cargillenterprises.co.nz/services/e-waste-recycling

ha electrify your port first - get ship to shore power and get rid of the smoke and noise in our neighbourhoods that would be the right thing.

 

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