Electric buses will be hitting Auckland streets this year after Auckland Transport received a $500,000 government grant.
Photo: RNZ
The grant from a low-emission contestable fund will be topped up by Auckland Transport to buy two buses, for a trial set to start half-way through the year.
The buses are fully battery-operated and can travel around 200km between charges.
Auckland Transport chief metro officer Mark Lambert said the buses would be used on different routes to fully test them out over about a year.
"Really it's about Auckland Transport being able to look a those vehicles, test them with our customers, look at ride quality, look at the performance of the vehicles, and actually build that into an ongoing strategy to ultimately convert the whole bus fleet into zero-emission technology over the next few years."
The council has also received close to $300,000 which will go towards 60 electric vehicle charging stations around Auckland.
In total 15 projects have been given around $3.5 million from the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund.
Up to $6 million is available for a second funding round with applications in late February/March this year.