Ryman Healthcare joins EVolution

A fast charging network will be installed at five Ryman Healthcare Auckland villages as it switches its fleet to electric vehicles (EVs).

With one electric vehicle and two chargers to be available at each village, Ryman will create a car sharing scheme for the use of residents and staff using $117,500 received from the Government’s latest low emission vehicles contestable fund round.

The chargers will be installed at its Remuera, St Heliers, Howick, Greenlane and Orewa villages and will be available to residents and their families as well as staff and members of the public visiting the villages.

There’s growing interest among residents in using EVs and Ryman wants to ensure it has a charging network to enable them to make the switch, Ryman Healthcare chief executive Gordon MacLeod says.

“A number of our residents have switched to electric cars and we want to make sure that we have a fast charging network to support them. While we’re designing our new villages to incorporate charging points and the fast chargers will allow residents to top up with power quickly and conveniently.’’

Last year, Ryman Healthcare signed up to the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS) and has measured its carbon footprint across its village network.

Switching to an EV fleet is one of the measures planned to reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

Ryman already uses hybrid vehicles and moving to electric cars is a logical next step, MacLeod says.

The five-village trial in Auckland will determine whether Ryman rolls out the EV project to other villages among the 33 it has in New Zealand and Australia, with 11,000 residents and 5000 staff.