Regional Workshop on Electric Vehicle Standards in the Pacific Islands

Auckland, 18^th October 2024

 As the Pacific Islands gear up to the end of the year climate negotiations, the topic of reducing fossil fuel dependence and greenhouse gas emissions in the land transport sector was discussed at a regional workshop on electric vehicles (EV) standards in Auckland, NZ on 14 – 18 October 2024.

Fifteen participants representing Land Transport Authorities, Power Utilities, Energy Offices, Climate Change and regional organisations came together to familiarise themselves and appreciate the Electric Vehicle Standards for the Pacific Region that was developed through a technical assistance by the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF).

Figure 1: Participants with Liz Yeaman, Coordination Office Australia/New Zealand Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) e. V.

Fig 2. Participants toured Kinetic’s New Lynn bus depot  

Participants reported the steady increase in the number of EVs and pilot projects in the islands. Participants also reported early challenges to their pilot and demonstration e-mobility projects.   

The workshop highlighted that EVs and their chargers come in varying designs, features and performance, hence the importance for the Pacific Islands to adopt and enforce some kind of standards on the EVs and their chargers. “This would ensure the rights of consumers are protected, that the plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors, and vehicle inlets for electric vehicles are compatible, that the environment is not adversely affected, that fire and shocks are avoided and poor industry practices are eliminated”, said Andrew Campbell, the lead EV expert for the workshop.  

The workshop was a response to a decision made by the 5^th Pacific Energy and Transport Ministers meeting at Vanuatu last year whereby they called on PICTs to roll-out e-mobility programs including the adoption and implementation of EV policies, standards and roadmaps, infrastructure and disposal of used batteries.

The workshop was held back-to-back with the NZ Electro Mobility Summit and was supported by the PRIF, the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) e. V., the Austrian Development Agency and SPC’s Climate Change Flagship Programme.

Contacts:

Solomone Fifita – solomonef@spc.int

Andrew Campbell - acampbell@fueltechnology.net

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