Kiwi businesses commit to electric vehicles

Facilities management company OCS will join more than 30 other New Zealand businesses in an effort to convert at least 1450 vehicles on the nation’s roads to electric in the next three years.

Launched last month by Air New Zealand and Mercury, with the support of Westpac, the initiative will see organisations commit to transition at least 30% of their company vehicle fleets to plug-in electric vehicles by 2019. This will increase the number of EVs on New Zealand roads by more than 75%, removing almost 3 million kg of carbon emissions annually.

OCS currently has over 300 diesel and petrol fleet vehicles on the road and already works with Air New Zealand on a cabin waste recycling initiative at Auckland Airport. The company’s managing director, Gareth Marriott, said the initiative thus fits with OCS’s existing commitment to sustainability.

“OCS is extremely focused not only on addressing the environmental impacts of our own products and services, but also on supporting our clients and suppliers to meet their own environmental, social and economic sustainability goals,” he said.

The initiative follows announcements from Mercury in 2014 and Air New Zealand in March this year on their own moves to EVs. Other companies committed to the cause come from industries as diverse as telecommunications, transport, waste management, banking and energy.

Image caption: OCS Managing Director Gareth Marriott and Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon.