Fleet electric vehicles
Introducing electric vehicles to your business fleet
Many New Zealand businesses are now investing in electric vehicles as part of their commitment to reducing emissions across their operations. Because businesses are responsible for purchasing up to 60% of Aotearoa’s new cars each year, they have a significant impact on New Zealand’s emissions profile and vehicle availability.
Businesses account for around 40% of New Zealand’s transport emissions and with the increasing focus on ‘environment, social, governance’ (ESG) measures for businesses, many are engaging in the transition to EVs, and there is a compelling business case to do so. Here at Northpower we have an increasing number of EVs on our passenger fleet and are actively keeping an eye on emerging EV technologies for our field utes, trucks and lines vehicles to incorporate once they become feasible and available.
Benefits of electric fleets
There are a number of benefits for companies who are looking at moving towards an electric vehicle fleet. Operating costs of EVs are significantly lower than ICE vehicles, which means a long-term cost saving exercise for your business. There is also a growing expectation from regulations, boards, shareholders, and employees to drive down emissions across their operations and supply chains.
Aotearoa New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) serves as the primary mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by creating a market-driven price for emissions units. Both EECA and the Climate Change Commission assume that carbon prices will more than double between now and 2050.
Common barriers for businesses
The most common barriers to EV adoption for businesses in New Zealand and globally are:
- Lack of EV public charging infrastructure
- Lack of fit-for-purpose EV models eg 4WD EV options
- Higher upfront cost of EVs
- Challenge of installing both work and home-based charging for staff
- Significant stakeholder engagement and change management
- Uncertain/underdeveloped policy landscapes to enable accelerated business uptake
This information was compiled by Drive Electric, and shared in their State of the Nation E-Mobility Report (2023).
What consumers are saying
Research undertaken in 2023 shows an increasing number of Kiwis are considering an EV as their next vehicle, and fewer New Zealanders are considering petrol or diesel cars. People are attracted by the cheaper running costs and the use of cleaner, renewable energy, and this is growing consumer’s expectations that businesses also start investing in EVs.
In a 2023 EECA study, 62% of EV owners in New Zealand said they purchased their EV/PHEV sooner than they otherwise would have, because of the clean car discount which has since been discontinued. The percentage of plug in car sales in New Zealand was 13%, well behind countries like Norway (88%) , China (29%) and the United Kingdom (23%) but ahead of others like Japan (3%) and Australia (5%).
Talk to us for advice
If you’re considering converting your business fleet towards electric, we can help you with advice around network requirements for charging stations and other considerations.
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