An electric makeover for some logistics businesses, a slew of new charging stations and a qualification for electric car mechanics have been announced among a list of projects to be partly funded by a government grant.

Energy Minister Megan Wood on Wednesday announced the allocation of $3.74 million from the third round of the government's Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund.

The fund was set up in 2016 with a plan to get 64,000 electric cars on New Zealand roads by 2021 and gives projects up to 50 per cent of what they need, with the rest matched by businesses.

Among the 20 plans, Ms Woods said she was particularly excited about the allocation of funds towards the logistics industry, with CODA freight receiving $500,000 for a 58-tonne, fully electric truck to shuttle Fonterra goods.

"The big potential in terms of really cutting into our emissions is freight... so to have Fonterra looking at options, that is a huge step forward," she said.

Grocery distributor Foodstuffs also received more than $800,000 to set up fast charger stations at 29 supermarkets around the country.

That's part of a total $1.7m going to fill gaps in the country's charging infrastructure.

Other recipients included Wellington's Zealandia Sanctuary, which received $118,137 to introduce fully electric passenger mini-buses.

Chief Paul Atkins said the initiative would compliment Zealandia's carbon-free certification.

"We operate 25 - 30 times a day, per bus so this is a significant test of that technology for this purpose, and part of the point is it allows us to further reduce (our) balance of emissions," he said.

Meanwhile, the Motor Industry Training Organisation has been given $95,000 to develop a qualifications framework for electric vehicle technicians - for who there is currently no NZQA qualification.

But Taxpayers' Union director Jordan Williams said the fund was just the government funding "businesses' transport expenses".

"Businesses already have incentives to use electric vehicles because it's good PR and they save on fuel," he said.

"Today's handout is simply corporate welfare, started by National, and now happily continued by Labour."