Kerikeri Retirement Village today launched its electric vehicle car-pooling initiative for residents. The $134,500 scheme is believed to be the first of its type for the New Zealand aged care sector and has been funded jointly and equally by the Village and a grant from the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund, administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).
The scheme is known as the Kerikeri Electric Vehicle Network for Seniors (KEVNS) and is open to any Village resident with a driver’s licence. Family members of Village residents who have registered for the scheme will also be eligible to drive if the resident is in the vehicle.
Residents have completed training on how to book and use the vehicles; three Nissan Leafs. They can be booked by the half-hour or for an entire day.
The fleet also comprises a fourth EV as the Village staff pool car.
Kerikeri Retirement Village chief executive Hilary Sumpter said electric car sharing made “all sorts of sense” for retirement village residents who typically travel short distances and who can have the option to no longer own and maintain a frequently under-used combustion-engine vehicle. Car-sharing is a way to reduce transport costs for residents and increase energy efficiency both in Kerikeri generally and specifically at the Village, where energy efficiency measures are being introduced in all new developments and in some of the existing infrastructure.
Ms Sumpter said the Village hoped ultimately to expand the car-sharing operation to include non-residents. It has plans to grow the fleet and eventually replace its fleet of van and buses with EVs.
