Transpower hits fleet EV target

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

Switching 30% of its passenger vehicle fleet to electric has already been achieved by Transpower New Zealand, well within the expected time frame.

The national grid operator has 16 EVs among the 54 vehicles in its passenger fleet, while a further 40 vehicles are utes, minibuses and trucks.

Passenger vehicles are switched to EVs when the vehicles meet their replacement criteria, Transpower says.

It favours the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid (PHEV) after trialling a number of EVs, and the company will continue to evaluate other models as they come on the market.

“Our assets are spread widely around the country and some are in remote locations,” Transpower says.

“We needed an EV that had a long range, was AWD for light off-road travel, and was an SUV to carry three to four people including personal protective gear as well as being reasonably priced.”

While Transpower is actively following the development of EV utes, it currently replaces its fleet with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles as it says nothing suitable is yet available in that EV field.

It intends replacing eight diesel passenger vehicles with EVs this financial year and switch all its remaining passenger vehicles to EVs when their replacement criteria is met.

Transpower vehicles are mainly located at its Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch offices, and allocated to staff who regularly visit company sites, landowners and customers or are used as pool vehicles.

Concerns about range, vehicle cost and insufficient capacity on existing electrical boards at some locations have contributed to making the transition difficult in some instances.

But staff reaction to electrifying the fleet has been very positive, Transpower says.

“We have also noticed an increase in the number of staff who have purchased their own EVs.
Staff with EVs can use our chargers for free.”

Transpower has six EV chargers at its Auckland office and four in its Wellington office available to staff and visitors, with six more planned in Wellington later this financial year.

Four chargers were stationed in the Palmerston North office, but seismic issues meant that office had to recently relocate.

Six smart chargers are also being installed at the Christchurch office.