NZ Bus has won two awards at the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards held in Auckland – the EECA Business Energy Management Award and the Renewables Innovation Award.
The awards recognise NZ Bus’ $43m investment in Wrightspeed electric powertrain technology to begin transitioning its bus fleet to electric power and position it for the future.
NZ Bus chief executive officer, Zane Fulljames, says that with a mostly diesel-heavy fleet and electric vehicle technology developing rapidly, NZ Bus needed to act quickly to best meet the needs of future public transport users.
“Thinking beyond the prevailing assumption that diesel hybrids provide the best transitional technology towards fully electric vehicles, led to our decision to invest in Wrightspeed electric powertrain technology,” Fulljames says.
The Wrightspeed powertrain works by using electric motors (powered by batteries) to drive the wheels. The energy created by braking is converted to electricity, recharging the batteries on the go.
When the batteries do run low, an on-board range extender (which could run on any fuel including biofuel, landfill gas and natural gas) kicks in.
Once battery technology improves, the range extender can be removed to create a fully electric vehicle.
NZ Bus is retrofitting the Wrightspeed electric powertrain to its existing fleet, with the first electric buses expected to be on the road by early 2018.
The NZI Sustainable Business Network (SBN) Awards are New Zealand’s longest-standing sustainability awards recognising businesses and individuals that are transforming New Zealand to a more sustainable nation.
The judges say they were impressed with the commitment NZ Bus has demonstrated to energy management.
“NZ Bus is showing leadership by significantly investing in clean technology to electrify its bus fleet – a first in New Zealand. This move is not a step change, but rather they have leap-frogged to a transformational shift,” the judges say.
“Powering their fleet of buses on a cutting-edge hybrid electric technology was a significant decision for this company. It enables the environment to benefit from New Zealand’s high shares of low-carbon renewable electricity from the national grid.”
EECA business Auckland general manager Greg Visser says: “Businesses large and small are moving to electric vehicles, and it’s inspirational that NZ Bus has taken this step for its fleet. It is a company with a vision of the future and has taken practical measures to achieve that, with a plan to do even more.”
Air New Zealand wins top sustainability award
Air New Zealand is the Supreme Winner of the 2016 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards.
The awards judges said the company had demonstrated real corporate leadership in sustainability since launching its sustainability framework a year ago.
Action items included the bold move to transition its existing car fleet to electric vehicles (EVs), saving 65,000 litres in fuel each year.
The judges were impressed that Air New Zealand did not wait for a pending announcement on a government subsidy for EVs, but instead has forged ahead with its plans.
Furthermore, the company challenged other New Zealand corporates to follow suit, which stimulated CEO-level sustainability conversations throughout the country.
Air New Zealand recently formed an alliance with Mercury, supported by Westpac, to launch an initiative to encourage the uptake of EVs in corporate fleets in New Zealand.
So far more than 30 organisations have pledged to transition at least 30% of their corporate fleets to electric in the next three years. This total private sector commitment to more than 1450 vehicles will increase the number of EVs on New Zealand roads by more than 75%.
Along with the significantly lower running costs of electricity, this could remove almost three million kilograms of carbon emissions annually.
Rachel Brown, Sustainable Business Network (SBN) chief executive, says Air New Zealand’s very public commitment has a significant impact on the speed and uptake of sustainability from the firm.
“As one of the nation’s most major burners of carbon, it is setting a fantastic example of how it is possible to set big aspirations to operate in a sustainable manner,” Brown says.
“It has called on an internationally-renowned group of experts to push it on its strategy and delivery. The scale of the challenge is immense, but it is determined to succeed,” she says.
“Air New Zealand’s integrated company-wide approach means it is now recognised as the nation’s greatest contributor to sustainability.”
The 2016 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards also recognised 22 other organisations’ and leaders’ sustainability efforts.
