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Around 150,000 new vehicles are purchased every year in New Zealand and around 60% of them are bought by businesses. We reckon a lot more of them should be electric - both for the benefit of those companies but also to seed the second-hand market - and that could be on the cards now because one of the major barriers to fleet EV uptake has been removed.
Following discussions with companies that had large vehicle fleets (including Vittoria Short at ASB), we learned that WorkSafe New Zealand guidance was getting in the way of wider EV adoption because if a work vehicle was being charged at an employee's home, the home was to be considered to be a workplace.
That came with the associated liability and compliance costs for companies and understandably put them off.
We talked with WorkSafe and now Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden has taken action. The guidance has been updated and common sense has prevailed.
The Minister says it best: "Crucially, employee homes are no longer referred to as workplaces in the new guidelines... I expect this to free up the employer-owned EV landscape and give businesses more confidence to choose EVs for their organisations."
Rewiring is keen to keep working with companies to help drive fleet EV uptake. It makes so much sense for profitability, productivity, resilience, emissions and more. So whether it's company cars for getting around town or big rigs for getting around the country, the future is looking increasingly electric.
Read more about the change here.
New South Wales gets the memo about the importance of finance and announces scheme offering zero interest loans to households to upgrade to electric stuff; plug-in solar gets the tick of approval to go on sale in the UK soon and the New York Times says it could 'change America'; EVolocity takes electrification to the streets to gets the kids inspired (and eventually employed); a tour of the amazing recycling business Redwood Materials; Think Solar and BYD give it away now; and a skit that cuts close to the bone for many solar dads.
Read moreDownloadAdvances in technology and falling costs mean customer-owned solar and batteries can play a critical role in New Zealand’s energy infrastructure - improving affordability, resilience and sustainability. Multiple trading relationships (MTR) and peer-to-peer trading would enable this potential by increasing competition, customer choice, and innovation in the electricity market, unlocking greater consumer benefits from customer solar and batteries.
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