Young company with big EV ideas

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

Hamish Gardyne’s 88-year-old grandfather encouraged him to develop his business HVS Motors around electric vehicles.

Ian Sime wanted an EV to run around Dunedin in so Gardyne imported a Nissan Leaf for him.

“He loves driving it,” Gardyne says.

The HVS Motors director didn’t need much convincing from his grandfather to become more involved in EVs for the business.
He set up his own mechanical workshop under Hamish’s Vehicle Sales (HVS) at the age of 19 in 2008. He diversified the business in 2014, adding a sales yard and importing used Japanese vehicles.
Things have progressed from there.

Gardyne did the research on EVs and got on board early.
“I’ve always been interested in new technology,” he says.

People didn’t know a lot about EVs four or five years ago, but he believes that’s all changed.
“The market’s developed pretty rapidly in the last couple of years.”

That helped encourage the business to expand into Timaru last April and into Kaikorai Valley in Dunedin in January this year.
Hamish married Kaye in 2015 and his wife has had a major role to play in the business. She started and managed the Gore sales yard then helped set up and develop the Timaru and Dunedin branches.
“We’ve now got more than 40 staff,” Gardyne says, which indicates how rapidly the business is growing.
Driving a Leaf himself, he often moves EVs to the various branch sites so he gets a great chance to see how they operate. He reckons they’re super comfortable to drive, with low running costs.
The company deals in used imports, which Gardyne says represents good value for customers, especially until more used EVs become available and broaden the market with a variance of range and price.

He’s watching with interest how Tesla goes, for instance.
The charging infrastructure around Gore could do with improvement though, Gardyne says.
ChargeNet were going to put a charging station in but were hit by delays.

“We have a free 32-amp charger for public use, a five to 10-minute walk from town, which is better than nothing.”
Charging facilities are improving in the South Island all the time, so it’s no surprise demand for HVS Motors’ EVs extends beyond Invercargill and Central Otago.
“EVs will keep expanding exponentially,” Gardyne says.

He believes the used car market will remain a big part of it in New Zealand.
All of the company’s sales managers have had extensive training relating to EVs because they need to be able to answer any questions thrown at them, Gardyne says.
“Customers are now more knowledgeable about EVs than many were a few years ago.

“Early on, it was a hard pitch but people are more accepting of the change in industry and ideas.”
Gardyne says his company is built on “keeping it simple and up front”.
“We aim to provide the right products at the right price.”
Visit www.hvsmotors.co.nz for more information.