Drive Electric chairman retiring
Mark Gilbert has announced he will step down as chairman of Drive Electric after leading the organisation for more than 11 years.
He says it is time to “pass the baton” to someone else after seeing the number of electric vehicles (EVs) on New Zealand’s roads soar from just a few when he took up the post in June 2013 to more than 86,000 today.
Gilbert, pictured, notified members of his plan to retire from the role at the advocacy group’s annual general meeting in Auckland on September 7. His retirement will be effective from December 31.
“I have signalled my retirement from the role now to allow the board the time to think about what they want to do for the future,” Gilbert told Autofile Online.
“There’s talk about potentially putting in place more full-time resource to help manage and look after Drive Electric because the membership and income keeps growing and we can’t keep running the organisation on a voluntary and part-time basis.
“This is an opportunity now for the board to formalise the way Drive Electric is run a bit more but at the same time to keep on doing what it is doing.”
Drive Electric says it will soon be recruiting some new directors from its membership and will appoint a new chair before the end of the year.
Kirsten Corson, deputy chair, adds that Gilbert has been a pioneer in New Zealand’s transport landscape and helped advance the uptake of electric vehicles.
“Over many years, he has pushed the opportunity that would be presented by electrification. In the past few years, we’ve seen that vision start to become our reality,” explains Corson.
“Drive Electric’s recently released State of the Nation report demonstrates how e-mobility in many forms has taken hold and is set to become the dominant motive force over the coming decade.
“Mark has done so much for the industry and on behalf of the board we wish to warmly thank him for his 11 years of leadership and service.”
A large part of Gilbert’s career has been spent working for BMW, first as sales and marketing director in New Zealand from 1988 to 1999.
He then spent five years as managing director of BMW Philippines before holding the same post at BMW NZ from October 2004 to December 2012. He was also president of the Motor Industry Association from September 2011 to December 2012.
His other past industry-related roles have included being a director of the Dekra NZ board, the governing body of Vehicle Testing New Zealand, between 2017 and 2021, and being chairman of the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council for eight years from July 2013.
He was also a member of the Ministry of Transport’s EVs programme leadership group from 2016 to 2020, and chairman of its clean car sector leadership group between August 2021 and June 2023.
Gilbert notes that he committed to his decision to retire from Drive Electric when he was preparing his chairman’s report for the recent AGM.
“I was looking at it and thinking it’s the 11th year I have been chairing this group since I retired from BMW and I think 11 years is probably enough,” he says.
“Drive Electric has grown in that time, the demands are greater and it’s just time to pass the baton.
“I came in when there were about 15 EVs on the roads in New Zealand and now there are more than 86,000. I’d like to think I have added some value to the organisation and the e-mobility movement.”
He predicts the challenges ahead for Drive Electric are not so much about the electrification of light vehicles, which are now clearly the future of the sector, but more about ensuring charging infrastructure is in place and cutting emissions from trucks, buses and other forms of transportation.
The group will continue to speak up on these subjects after becoming a key contributor to national discussions about the move to low-emissions vehicles over the years.
“We’ve matured from being a bit of a maverick organisation at the beginning, where I would perhaps be more provocative, to one the government and all the political parties value and seek our input,” says Gilbert.
“We’ve become trusted partners in the conversation about lowering emissions from vehicles and long may that continue.”
Gilbert says he wants to thank Drive Electric board members past and present for their contributions to the group, noting the e-mobility movement in New Zealand would not be where it is today without their commitment to the cause.
“Many of you have contributed many, many hours to pave the way for the uptake we are seeing today,” he adds.
“In particular, there are some longtime present and past board members I want to acknowledge. In particular, Duncan Stewart, Annette Azuma, Matthew Bailey, Eric Pellicer and Dean Sheed. I also want to thank our advisers Hannah Henderson and James Walker.
“I’ve worked with many fantastic people in this role and I want to acknowledge them all. Special thanks to the Fukutake family for investing in this concept and staying with us through thick and thin. We wouldn’t be here today without them. The organisation is in good shape, particularly with Kirsten Corson as our deputy chair.”
Gilbert notes he will be carrying on as chairman of Auto Stewardship New Zealand (ASNZ), which will operate Tyrewise, New Zealand’s first nationwide regulated product stewardship scheme for recycling used tyres.
ASNZ is also looking at setting up schemes for recycling other parts of vehicles, including batteries from EVs.
“I will continue with ASNZ and the Battery Industry Group,” he says. “The areas of product stewardship and circular economy really interest me and I’m keen to keep pushing on those fronts.”
