OfficeMax hits emission reduction milestone with fleet electrification

Workplace solutions specialist OfficeMax New Zealand has reduced carbon emissions associated with vehicle fuel consumption by almost 40% following the transition of its entire vehicle fleet to EVs and hybrids. 

“The fleet transition underscores our commitment to environmental stewardship through reducing our carbon emissions,” says OfficeMax New Zealand chief financial officer Ben Norrie, adding its team has backed the initiative.

“Driving range, charging availability and reimbursement for home-charging were three areas that we wanted to address with our people from the outset,” he says. 

“Working with our fleet management partner of 10 years, FleetPartners, we were able to provide our people with EVs and hybrids to test drive, which quickly showed them that driving range was not going to be an issue.”

The business also established a partnership with EV infrastructure provider Jet Charge to install home chargers for employees to charge their corporate cars overnight.

“OfficeMax is the first business we have worked with for home charging using Jet Charge plus, an industry-first EV charging service that allows fleets to dial their EV charging needs up and down to suit,” says Jet Charge chief executive Tim Washington.

“A major barrier for electrifying fleets in the past has been the absence of employee home charging solutions,” he says.

“OfficeMax has really paved the way on this, as they’ve demonstrated to their people and other corporates that the transition to electric vehicles can be made simple for employees through an at-home charging solution.” 

Jet Charge plus bundles together all the elements a fleet needs to charge their EV fleet.

Electricity usage is tracked by Jet Charge through its charging management platform, which has given employees confidence that electricity reimbursement is as simple as it was for fuel reimbursement, the company says.

The new fleet is driving a considerable reduction in the business’ fuel consumption, with a decrease of 19,298 litres of petrol saved during the January-April 2024 period compared to the same period in 2023. 

OfficeMax’s successful rollout has Norrie excited for the future with the groundwork laid for further emissions reductions with plans to make the fleet majority EV in three years.

“We’ve learned a lot over the last year and I am delighted with how our transition has gone.

Our people are happy with our momentum in addressing the challenges that our planet is facing and are looking to what’s next.”

OfficeMax’s ongoing fleet transition supports the company’s 2020-2025 Sustainability Strategy, which has also seen the company convert its LPG powered forklifts to electric, preventing about 123 tCO2e in the first year.