Turners making itself EV-friendly

This story first appeared in the December issue of EVtalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

Electric vehicles are becoming more prevalent in New Zealand’s fleet and Turners Group is turning its attention to the changes they will bring.

That includes installing chargers at its Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch sites for private and public use.

But that doesn’t mean the company is expecting petrol and diesel vehicles to disappear anytime soon.

Turners Group chief executive Greg Hedgepeth, who leads the company’s used vehicle operation, including Buy Right Cars, says it sells less than 100 EVs a year.

“It’s a very small part of our base currently.

“EVs are coming to New Zealand and are gathering momentum, with Government ambitions around how many they want on the roads in years to come.

“But as it currently stands there’s more opportunity in the used EV space than the new space.

“Some OEMs aren’t even supporting core models because they can’t make the prices work because there’s no subsidies.”

Hedgepeth says Turners is “assessing the situation” as new models with better range are released.

Some older EVs have a range of just 150km, which puts some buyers off, but that will change as newer models which can travel longer distances are released, he says.
Used EV imports out of Japan and the United Kingdom, which have potentially had a government subsidy applied, are part of the equation, Hedgepeth says.

However, Turners also sees the New Zealand-new used market as an opportunity as its fleet customers upgrade to newer models.
“That’s why we’ve put in some charging stations around the country so we can deal with those cars and make ourselves EV friendly in the years to come.

“Corporates seem to be getting into EVs more than the retail public. It’s about sustainability and linking that to their brand imagery.

“That’s where the initial opportunity is.”
Hedgepeth is also intrigued to see how the new Government will influence the EV market locally.
“Previously, there was a lot of talk about getting more EVs on the road, but not the willingness to subsidise them.

“It will be interesting to see how that changes under the new Government and how they might turn it on its head.

“Whenever you have subsidies on EVs, they take off.”