New Zealand Electric Utility vehicles on Sale . . .

| The Isaac Findings |

Electrical bus and utility truck manufacturer ZEV of Palmerston North has driven to the forefront of alternative power heavy vehicle manufacturing.

The New Zealand company took advantage of the lag globally in vehicular battery development to focus on new applications.. Zero Emission Vehicles has sold several of its compacting rubbish trucks to local bodes, notably the Kapiti District Council.

These ZEV Enviro Series trucks are in a range of weights from 9 tonnes. These are all battery-electric vehicles.

ZEV provides rear-loading, compacting refuse and recycling collection options available in a range of bin sizes.

The locally conceived, designed and built ZEV returns Palmerston North to the era in the 1960s and 70s when the city was one of the Australasia's automotive centres. Palmerston North was the home of the first mass produced utility vehicle the Trekka, a boxy light all terrain vehicle which enjoyed a following at the cusp of the 1960s/70s.

The waiving of road user charges for electric vehicles gave the ZEV scheme a fillip. Palmerston North has been a consistent leader in green projects and financed its refuse dump co-generation plant from the sale of green credits.

Palmerston North has a long reputation for sustained civic industrial campaigns and the ZEV concept grew out of a trust designed to implement a trackless tram service in the sprawling capital of the Central Districts. Out of the Manawatu Tram Trust grew the concept of the ZEV.