STEVE AND DEE WEST ARE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTORS AT EV WORLD NZ 2018

Two of the founders of the Better NZ Trust, Steve and Dee West, were recognised at EV World 2018 for the outstanding work they have put into the EV space in New Zealand.

Driving Collaboration and Overcoming the Barriers for EV Adoption

Panel Members: David Vincent, Ken Shirley, Gavin Young, Oz Jabur, Steve West

One of the most relevant topics for the Better NZ Trust’s #LeadingTheCharge campaign at the EV World conference was the Leaders Panel: Driving Collaboration and Overcoming the Barriers for EV Adoption.

Because if there are legitimate, insurmountable obstacles preventing people from purchasing electric vehicles, then the work the Better NZ Trust carries out, would be as frustrating and futile as taking a child window shopping in a candy store.

The first step in overcoming barriers in EV Adoption is to identify them. And the first speaker in this session was David Vincent who has been doing just that in his role on the government initiated EV Leadership Group. The group is an amalgam of government departments and the industry sector. An initial mandate instilled by former Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges, and reinforced by the Associate Minister of Transport, Julie Anne Genter, was ‘to identify the impediments for the uptake of EVs and make recommendations as to how to get over them.’

Read the full transcripts from the panel discussion below.

To summarise, the main barrier to EV Adoption is in the heavy fleet area, with lithium-ion batteries being impractical for high payload vehicles like tractors. Although stop/start vehicles like rubbish trucks and buses or long-haul semi-trucks are slowly and successfully being introduced. 

The second major issue is the high initial purchase price. Used imports are driving uptake and stocks are unlikely to dwindle in the near future, but will eventually be joined by ex-fleet vehicles, buoying the second-hand market.

Other issues that are often touted as prime barriers, such as lack of off-street parking or multi-dwelling buildings will not be a problem with technology already available to overcome these issues or tech that will be available by the time mass adoption occurs. 

In the past year, customer EV-IQ has increased with intelligent questions being asked and industry representatives report that their own response to these questions has improved with ongoing training. A recent survey of Mercury customers around the country indicates that nearly 50% of people are seriously considering an EV for their next vehicle purchase.

Read the 6th part of our series "Busting EV Myths" by clicking this link here

Topics Covered:

Myth: Batteries Have Short Life Spans

Myth: Batteries Can Not Be Recycled

Myth: Lithium is Rare

Part 5 - view hi-res image here

June's EV figures are currently being released around the world and as we're at the half-way mark of 2018, it's a good time to check on EV Growth progress.  

[Data supplied by Ministry of Transport NZ and EV Sales. photo  BAIC EC series flooding China's streets, courtesy of EV Sales]

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