Auckland’s first all-electric ferry is on the water – but the programme for megawatt chargers on piers is running badly behind schedule. And funding for more vessels, and larger pontoons for them to dock at, is now uncertain - with much now on hold until at least 2028.
The 200-passenger vessel – made by East Tamaki boat builder McMullen & Wing and designed by its spin-off company EV Maritime, incorporating engines from a third local firm, HamiltonJet – had its “technical launch” as it was rolled into the water for the first time about 6am this morning.
A second, identical vessel is about three months behind, as planned.
Additionally, the first of two 300-passenger, hybrid electric ferries being built by Q-West in Whanganui – which will feature diesel generators – is due for its technical launch in around eight weeks, Auckland Transport electric ferry programme manager Nathan Cammock says.
It will also take several months of finishing before it goes into commercial operation. The second hybrid will follow 12 months later.
Inside (and outside) Auckland’s first electric ferry pic.twitter.com/EvaxoNDTM8
— Chris Keall (@ChrisKeall) June 11, 2025
All four vessels will be owned by AT and operated by Fullers on a license that runs through to June 2034.
Fullers will run the two hybrids between downtown Auckland and Devonport, while the fully-electric vessels will sail other mid harbour routes, including Half Moon Bay (their first confirmed destination) and the Hobsonville Point run.
In 2022, with Covid stimulus spending in full flow, AT indicated it had funding lined up for seven electric or hybrid ferries in its first wave of on-the-water electrification as part of a programme to replace all 27 of the city’s diesel ferries by 2030.
Now, with central government and Auckland Council budgets under pressure, Cammock told the Herald funding is now only confirmed for the four boats currently under construction.
It won’t be until a central government public transportation funding round, scheduled for 2028, that it will become clear if further electric vessels can be funded and on what timeline.
To the untrained eye, the fully-electric ferry looks ready to go, but EV Maritime chief executive Michael Eaglen says there will be about three months of finishing work before the vessel is handed over to ferry operator Fullers.
Fullers will then take several more months for certification and crew training. AT won’t put a timeline on it, but the Herald understands it’s expected to be around six months before commercial operation begins.
The ferries will use what’s been billed as a world-first 1500-amp marine Megawatt Charging System (MCS).
The first element of it is now under construction at Half Moon Bay. Cammock said it will be finished by the time the first fully-electric ferry enters operation with Fullers – and would be enough for a single fully-electric ferry to operate.
However, for two ferries to criss-cross between Half Moon Bay and the city (the current set-up for the diesels on all routes), the planned charging station for Queens Wharf (also home to Shed 10, the Cloud and the Downtown Ferry Terminal)will have to be in place.
In December 2023, Swedish multinational ABB won a $27.6 million contract to build three chargers for Auckland’s electric ferries. It said it would build:
At the time, Cammock said the first equipment would be delivered by July 1, 2024; the first charger would be delivered by September 30, 2024 and the remaining four by December 31, 2024.
But last November, the Herald reported that the two-storey Queens Wharf charging station, which will consume as much power as a mid-size town, had only just gone out to consent – and that it had sparked concerns from Heritage New Zealand and Waitematā and Gulf councillor Mike Lee, who called it an “eyesore”.
This morning, Cammock revealed the Queens Wharf charger is still stuck in an open-ended consent process.
“AT also has plans to install charging equipment at the Downtown Ferry Terminal and are currently awaiting the resource consent process to be completed so we can commence these works,” the AT programme director said.
“We do not yet have a timeframe on commencement or completion of above-wharf works at the Downtown Ferry Terminal, as this is reliant upon completion of the resource consent process.
“We are currently undertaking wharf repair works at the Downtown Ferry Terminal in preparation for installing cable trays to connect from the new charging equipment to the first ferry charging berths.”
For the two hybrids, the chargers are not such a pressing issue.
Fullers CEO Mike Horne said earlier that, if need be, they could serve the Devonport-city run using their diesel generators.
(While there’s no MCS charger at McMullen & Wing, the first electric ferry can also trickle charge from a standard marine charger. It takes around 24 hours, Eaglen said.)
The news is not so good for Hobsonville Point commuters. Work has yet to begin on the charger for the northwest peninsula.
More broadly, Cammock said pontoon improvements would be needed for the Hobsonville Point pier to accommodate larger capacity diesel and electric ferries.
The same went for the second destination on the route, Beach Haven.
Work on both is expected to be completed during 2026.
The Hobsonville Point charger will likely be added after the 2028 funding round, Cammock said.
And although it’s not even on the radar yet for an electric ferry, the West Harbour pier will have to be completely rebuilt - with its private owner in a barney with AT over who should foot the multi-million dollar bill.
With its huge windows letting in the light, spacious interior and dedicated sheltered space for e-bikes and e-scooters, the first fully-electric ferry impressed early onlookers this morning.
Eaglen said the total build cost would come in around $20m – the figure given by AT as construction began in early 2023. A regulation change that meant the batteries originally ordered were not sufficiently watertight did not lead to a budget blowout, but did cost six months of build time.
He said that while that was well above the upfront cost of an equivalent diesel ferry, there would be lower operating costs.
The vessel’s 11 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries – spread evenly between its catamaran hulls – would last 8-10 years before their efficiency degraded and they had to be replaced, Eaglen said.
Replacing the batteries today would cost around $1m, but the EV Maritime chief executive anticipated it would be cheaper in 10 years’ time.
Overall, the carbon fibre vessel is expected to last 30 years.
The vessel’s top speed of 25 knots is the same as that of the diesel vessels currently operating around Auckland.
The Herald told Eaglen that the lack of weather cover on the top deck would likely draw flak from local Facebook groups, as it had when design renders were released earlier.
So it proved, as one Hobsonville Point resident posted: “A major design flaw: top deck outside seating with no weather cover. These seats will be used only a small percentage of the year. More useful: outside seating with some cover for sea spray, light rain, wind. Did they consult passengers?”
Eaglen said, “It’s a boat, so anything can be added.” But any top deck cover would detract from the vessel’s efficiency, he said.
Cammock said, “EV Maritime may yet build a cover for the top deck if it chooses. Auckland Transport’s requirement for this ferry is for 200 all-weather seats in the cabin, with any scenic seating as a bonus.”
“There has been extensive consultation throughout the design process of these new vessels - both hybrid and electric - including with passengers, disability and cycling accessibility groups, and the final design draws deeply from that,” Cammock said.
“Improving the customer experience of the new vessels in areas such as cabin noise, accessibility, wide boarding doors, toilets, cabin passenger flows has been a key focus of the project.
“The scenic deck is similar to those found on other ferries which operate mixed commuter and tourist routes such as Waiheke Island.”
ABOVE: The first fully-electric ferry is currently known as EVM1. Its name, given by local iwi will be revealed closer to its commercial launch.
AT says today, the ferry fleet carries 6% of Auckland’s commuters but produces 20% of all emissions from public transport as it burns through 13 million litres of diesel a year.
Cammock said the first fully electric ferry’s $20m in funding comprised about 68% from the Crown agencies EECA (Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority) and NIFF (National Infrastructure Funding and Financing), 16% from Auckland Council and 16% from the NZ Transport Agency. All of the players are under the pump. EECA is now in line to have its overall funding halved to $40.7m by the 2028/29 fiscal year.
Fullers also played a key role in early funding for the low-emission ferry project.
Auckland’s first fully-electric ferry is not the first in the world – or even New Zealand; Wellington got a smaller electric ferry, Ika Rere, in March 2022. (Even if it has recently been sidelined for 10 months with faults. Tech commentator Peter Griffin said he was hoping to see Ika Rere cutting across the harbour again soon, but also that its prolonged absence “Points to the fragile supply chain of parts for these electric ferries”.)
But it is one of only a handful, EV Maritime chairman Damian Camp said, while the MCS charging system was a global first of what was expected to become an industry standard.
“The eyes of the world are on New Zealand,” he said.
Said eyes include a San Francisco ferry operator, Angel Island Tiburon Ferry, which commissioned EV Maritime to design an electric ferry for its fleet for an undisclosed sum, financed by a state government agency, the California Air Resources Board (Carb).
As part of his US tour in July last year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Eaglen and Angel Island executives for a contract signing in San Francisco last year.
“Our project with Angel Island Tiburon Ferry is part of a US$32m [$53m] project to electrify two existing boats, build a new plug-in hybrid vessel and establish the shoreside charging infrastructure to support the fleet,” Eaglen told the Herald earlier today.
“Our primary involvement is in the new vessel, which is budgeted at US$12m, for which we are the designers and engineers.”
Camp said seven other overseas deals are on the boil.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
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