He said other electric hybrids were operating in Wellington and Auckland, but the new boat was significantly bigger.
It is 34 metres long and 9.5m wide, with a capacity for 300 passengers.
An Auckland Transport spokesperson said the ferry would operate on the Downtown to Devonport route.
“Q-West has been building commercial vessels, particularly ferries, for well over 30 years,” Mitchell said.
“We are well placed to be involved in a project of this size, and we’ve had an excellent outcome.”
He said three weeks of sea trials in Whanganui had begun, and the vessel was performing “beyond expectation”.
“She has four 770kW electric motors driving HamiltonJet water jets, manufactured in New Zealand.
“We’ve got a 2200kWh battery bank and two generators on board that can charge it, or provide power to the electric motors.”
The ferry also carried around 3000 litres of diesel, Mitchell said.
“Our trial speed in light weight conditions is 33 and 34 knots, which is really impressive.”
More electric hybrid ferries were being built around the world, including in Australia, where five 24-metre versions of Q-West’s new boat would be made, he said.
“This is definitely the first step in New Zealand, and I think what we need to see is a bit more investment in the infrastructure to make it worthwhile.
“We’ve got the skill base and know-how to build these things.”
Mitchell said commission work on the vessel involved experts flying in from Europe.
“Batteries came from Corvus, and some of the propulsion components came from Danfoss. These are quite complex pieces of equipment, so you need technical engineers from those companies coming to New Zealand.
“They haven’t seen anything else built this well. They were very impressed, and it’s all done here in Whanganui.”
He said if sea trials continued successfully, the boat would travel up the coast to Auckland by the end of November.
A second electric hybrid, a duplicate of the first, would be delivered somewhere around August next year, and patrol boats for NZ Police and Victoria Police were also being worked on.
Everyone involved in the project was “very, very proud of it”.
“We are having a launch do this month, and started a list of all the businesses we tapped into locally,” Mitchell said.
“There’s quite a number. It’s everything from engineering supplies and support to the guys who put the windows in.
“Being able to spread this work out is a really good thing for Whanganui.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.
