EV sharing is gateway to autonomy

This story first appeared in the september issue of EvTalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

Kirsten Corson is one of the drivers at New Zealand’s only sole electric car share service, Yoogo Share.

And it’s going places fast.

The company has seven hubs in Christchurch city, including the airport, and is now due to open its second Auckland city hub in September.

While the focus is on those two cities, Wellington will follow.

Corson says Yoogo Share has been approached by other New Zealand centres and will consider further locations once it’s established in those three cities.

There’s been plenty happening since Yoogo Share was launched by prime minister Jacinda Ardern in Christchurch in February 2018 with a 100 pure EV fleet and 100 chargers with 12 business customers.

In November that year Yoogo Share won the Smarter Transport award at the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards with 50 tonnes of carbon savings for Christchurch, and is in the running again for this year’s awards.

A Yoogo Share Club was introduced this year, providing after-hours subscription so members can drive an EV home.

Yoogo Share has recently released a OneWay service between Christchurch Airport and two city downtown locations, both proving very popular.

Then Genesis recently announced a $2 million 40% stake in the company which will assist the growth into Auckland and Wellington.

And there’s more to come.An all-of-government contract for car sharing will also commence in September, for instance.

Yoogo Share operates Hyundai Ioniq and BMW i3 EVs but is also testing a Hyundai Kona Electric in Auckland.

“We challenge people as to whether they need to own a car,” Corson says, explaining that many New Zealanders don’t add up all their car ownership costs and evaluate how little they actually use it over a 24-hour period.

She says in many cases it’s better to book a shared EV when you need it than to have your own “sitting around all day in a carpark”.

Businesses like Christchurch Council, Aurecon, The Building Intelligence Group, Warren and Mahoney and Jacobs really get that – they are great supporters of the service in Christchurch, Corson adds.

Admitting Kiwis do like to own cars, Corson says it will take a while for the “sharing economy” to truly flourish but that with autonomous vehicles (AVs) ahead of us then vehicle ownership is even less likely.

“I liken EV car sharing as the gateway drug to autonomy.”

So how did Corson get into EVs and especially Yoogo Share?

She started her career as a haematology nurse at Auckland Hospital (“the most humbling job I’ve ever had”) before doing a post graduate diploma specialising in marketing then working in start-ups.

While having three children, Corson established an on-line retail business working from home, set up another and then sold up to re-enter the workforce looking for more challenge.At that stage David Jenkinson and Kelvin James were setting up Yoogo Fleet with the support of Maui Capital so she joined the team.

“We saw an opportunity to do something different.” Putting GPS in cars initially showed that most of the time the cars sat in car parks.

Coupled with the high capital cost of EVs and chargers it can be prohibitive for businesses.

Corson, who was keen to see more EVs in New Zealand, wanted to do something about it and sharing them seemed really logical to her.She called it her “2am to 4am project” as an indication of the time to work on it.

The Christchurch City Council really started the ball rolling, calling for expressions of interest for a shared EV fleet.

Corson saw the opportunity and Yoogo Share was born, leading to Corson becoming its general manager and co-founder with David Jenkinson.

She points to the high costs of maintaining and servicing conventional fleets, also considering depreciation, insurance, repairs and other factors – plus the more than 1000 deaths annually from pollution related diseases here.

“With 86% renewable energy in New Zealand we have a wonderful opportunity to innovate mobility options with electric.”

While car sharing is in its infancy in New Zealand, Corson says the introduction of Lime electric scooters, Uber and Air BnB got people into learning about sharing and optimising assets.

Corson says it’s about helping businesses make better decisions too.

She salutes the council for “walking the talk” on electrics and selling its 55 vehicles to join Yoogo Share.

“It was a bold and visionary concept and the Christchurch City Council has been an amazing partner for us.”

“It’s a really exciting time to be involved,” Corson says, adding Genesis’ involvement will help with improving Yoogo Share’s software platform and growth.

“So you will see a lot of improvements in the next 12 months.”

Debbie van der Schyff is also passionate about EVs, particularly with her current job with technology leader ABB.

As sales specialist for Electrification Business, she covers all things EV for ABB throughout New Zealand.

“I see customers, promote new products, market and sell EVs.

In my role, I cover various aspects of marketing, sales and product installation.”

Van der Schyff has worked for ABB for 24 years, starting in South Africa and then moving to New Zealand in 2009 to become wholesale account manager for low voltage products.

She then moved into a sales specialist role for uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and eventually took on her current role, after her predecessor moved to a regional role in 2017.

“In one year we have moved from having just one EV charging product (a 50kW DC charger) to five (AC charger, DC wallbox, high-powered charger and bus charger).”

Enjoying “the EV space”, she encourages family and everyone she meets to try or buy an EV after seeing so many benefits.

She says New Zealand may seem a small country, but it is among the top 10 for EV product sales worldwide.

“I personally believe that the community is largely supportive of EVs, and with supporting policies and programmes like the low emission vehicles contestable fund and proposed ‘clean car’ changes, these add up to creating a welcoming environment for EVs,” van der Schyff says.

She enjoys the opportunity to drive one of ABB’s pool EVs, consisting of a Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Ioniq and two Mitsubishi Outlander PHEVs.

However, van der Schyff is also aware of typical drawbacks for driving EVs, having experienced the same in her own personal EV journey, such as lack of public awareness on EV charging infrastructure.

Her daughter, who lives in Auckland, is considering buying an EV or electric scooter but was uncertain about the availability of charging infrastructure until shown a map available in an online app.

“It’s important to raise public awareness to increase buy-in for EVs and dispel concerns.

We in the industry understand and appreciate, because we’re involved.

But Joe Bloggs down the road perhaps is not aware of existing EV infrastructure around the country.”
Van der Schyff also believes the private sector can do more to invest in EVs and support EV uptake.

“We need to get people who are not interested in EVs on board.”

She believes EVs are the future, particularly with concerns around climate change and the environment.

“Our kids won’t know a world without EVs,” says van der Schyff, who has shown her seven-year-old grandson how to charge an EV.

“I’m excited to see the new generation thinking about the environment and helping create a better planet.”