Drive Electric has vital role

Drive Electric plays a key part as an e-mobility advocacy organisation.

It’s already asked main political parties contesting the October 17 general election the hard questions around EVs and decarbonisation of fleets.

Chairman Mark Gilbert outlined Drive Electric’s work over the past year at the organisation’s AGM,  welcoming new members which included representatives of the e-bike industry, heavy transport and the bus sector, with Harley-Davidson also showing interest through its electric LiveWire motorcycle venture.

It’s Gilbert’s sixth report since taking up the chair in March 2014, and he considers much has been achieved.

He and director Steve West served on the Ministry of Transport’s EV Program Leadership Group until it disbanded in June.

Gilbert says “nothing really happened in the last three years” around EV policies during the Labour-Green coalition, and the group disbanded in part because its brief had become outdated.

Drive Electric spent considerable time working on the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) and “feebate” proposals “but they didn’t seem to get very far”.

However, Gilbert believes it will all come together in some form if New Zealand is to meet its zero carbon goal by 2050.

He is also the governance chair of the Battery Industry Group considering end uses of EV batteries, and participates in the Climate Change Commission’s Technical Reference Group – Transport – which he says are among useful forums for Drive Electric and help it become the “go to” organisation on matters related to decarbonisation and EVs.

Drive Electric released an ‘EV Discussion Document’ in August to the five main political parties outlining five key points it wants to see introduced by the next government to help achieve 250,000 EVs on our roads by 2025.

The plan suggests a bipartisan pathway for the transport sector to meet New Zealand’s climate change objectives, encourages businesses to switch fleets to EVs and other low to zero emission transport, and suggests the government’s fleet adopt a leadership role in such a transition.

“We have also continued to promote incentives such as FBT holidays or reductions for EV fleets and a ‘feebate’ scheme,” Gilbert says.

“We need to accelerate EV uptake, especially with the UK planning to ban new fossil fuel vehicles and hybrids by 2030,” he says, concerned about New Zealand becoming a dumping ground for ICE vehicles as a result.

Gilbert points out the average Kiwi car travels about 12,500km annually, paying more than $2500 in petrol alone compared with about $500 in electricity for an EV, saving “an extra $2000 for the family budget”.

Drive Electric also launched its fifth White Paper during the year on fleet optimisation and has progressed six working groups dealing with various aspects of its strategy (a seventh on heavy transport is now planned).

Gilbert says Drive Electric is in good shape for the rest of its journey and continues to remain both relevant and a resource to members – “but we know there is still a lot to do to get EV adoption to where it should be”.

“We must all continue to spread the message and get more people test driving EVs.

“Communication has to be linked to the total cost of ownership, rather than the sticker or transactional price, and thinking about the future – not just the world today.”