Nick Robilliard.
The difficulties of electrifying large fleets of vehicles “at the bottom of the world” were emphasised by Meridian Energy property and procurement manager Nick Robilliard at the Nordic EV Summit in Oslo on March 21 and 22.
“We’ve made some progress in New Zealand with moves to electrification of vehicles, moving from 210 EVs five years ago to more than 13,000 today,” Robilliard says.
“But we are still held back by lack of choice of EV models at affordable price points.
“This is made doubly difficult for fleet buyers in that there are as yet no EV utes available – easily the most popular vehicle in the New Zealand market – and if Australians don’t want to buy a certain model we don’t get that model in New Zealand.”
Robilliard says that in spite of these challenges more than half of Meridian’s passenger vehicles are already fully battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
“By July this year the figure will sit at 75% and we’ll get to 90% EVs very soon.
“In spite of the challenge of sourcing suitable utes and 4WD vehicles which are absolutely essential for use by our frontline staff, I believe we’ll be able to achieve our target of electrifying every vehicle in our 140-strong fleet by 2025.
“We are now looking at other aspects of ‘mobility as a service’ (MAAS) where we can help,” he told delegates to the Nordic EV Summit.
“For people that can’t afford a car of their own, we’re providing free electricity to the two largest ride-sharing companies in New Zealand.
“Also, electrification of our fleet will lead to exploration of autonomous vehicles,” Robilliard says.
“At Meridian we’re seeing the vision of the future, and we’re prepared to go with it.”
