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Leadership Group named

Posted on 24 August, 2016
Leadership Group named

New Zealand's Transport Minister, Simon Bridges announced the members of the Electric Vehicles (EVs) Leadership Group, which would assist with accelerating the uptake of EVs in NZ. “The Leadership Group will champion this programme and proactively promote the 14 wide-ranging initiatives we announced in May. It will share information between central and local government and industry, and provide feedback to test ideas and decisions before they are put into practice,” Mr Bridges says. The group includes secretary for transport Peter Mersi, chief executive of EECA, Mike Underhill, executive director Sustainable Business Council, Abbie Reynolds, chief executive Mecury NZ Limited, Fraser Whineray, independent director and chair, Mark Gilbert, director Asset Finance, Westpac , Gary Nalder, chief executive of the MIA, David Crawford, chief executive of Vector Limited, Simon Mackenzie, general manager of motoring affairs, AA, Mike Noon and chief executive of the IMVIA, David Vinsen. The Government aims to double the number of EVs on NZ roads each year, to reach 64,000 by 2021. Mr Bridges says the benefits of increasing uptake of electric vehicles are far-reaching. “They’re cheaper to run than petrol or diesel vehicles, they’re powered by our abundant renewable electricity supply, and they’ll reduce the amount of emissions that come from the country’s vehicle fleet.” Government agencies are currently working intensively on the major initiatives across the EVs programme. “I have just announced details of the first round of the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund and expect to be rolling out other significant elements of the EV programme in the coming months,” Mr Bridges says.