Whanganui electric vehicle charging station being installed at Pak'nSave

Whanganui will soon have an electric vehicle charging station like this one at Mangaweka.

Whanganui is set to get ist first electric vehicle charging station.

The station is being installed by ChargeNet NZ which is building a nationwide network of Rapid DC Chargers.

ChargeNet spokesman Shawn Moodie said the station will be hosted by Foodstuffs at its Pak'nSave supermarket in Glasgow St.

"Lines company Powerco is working on the installation and we expect it to be operational by the end of February," Mr Moodie said.

Electric vehicle owner Hadleigh Reid, who has campaigned alongside fellow Whanganui District councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay to get a charge station in Whanganui, said news it was happening next month was fantastic.

"And it's about time," he said. "It'll be great to have us connected up on the electric highway."

Mr Reid was pleased it was going to be installed on Victoria Ave instead of the state highway because it would help pull travellers into the city.

And while he believed out-of-towners would be the main users of the station (locals can charge at home), it would encourage the use of electric vehicles among Whanganui people too.

"It's kind of puts it in the front of your mind a bit."

There will be one DC fast charger with two cables supporting CHAdeMO and CCS standards.

A Rapid DC Charger is a much larger version of the onboard charger and converts high power 3-phase AC into powerful DC current.

Bypassing the onboard charger dramatically reduces the charge time, usually to less than 30 minutes.

The CHAdeMO connector, the most common in New Zealand, is used by Japanese vehicles, such as the Nissan LEAF, and Tesla with an adaptor.

CCS is a combined AC/DC system for American and European cars.

Conventional hybrid vehicles are not compatible with the chargers and are not considered to be electric vehicles because they use petrol to create electricity.

Whanganui's Ross Fallen is delighted that the charging station will soon be up and running.

Mr Fallen, who works at Caroline's Boatshed Bar and Eatery, was shocked by the behaviour of a customer last week.

"Some rude fellow parked his car next to his table's window and passed the charger through the window and sat there after his meal for two hours charging and no offer to pay," Mr Fallen said.

"[Owner] Caroline [Norton] wasn't there and we were unsure what to do about it so we let him carry on."