Z Energy plans for disruption
The car-sharing market and the future of mobility were one of the main subjects petrol retailer Z Energy (Z) discussed at their annual shareholders meeting in Wellington yesterday.
Energy companies are starting to look to other markets to maintain access to consumers as technological advancements such as car-sharing, electric and autonomous vehicles threaten to upset the traditional business model of selling petrol and diesel through roadside fuel stations.
Z admits that an electric vehicle disruption is coming, but also believes it still has time to prepare and the benefit of seeing how the decline plays out in other markets across the world, said Peter Griffiths, Chair of the board, during his address.
“We don’t really see EVs as a threat, but rather as an opportunity. An opportunity for us to really make a difference and be at the heart of the solution for New Zealand,” said Griffiths.
“We believe that from the middle of the next decade, demand for petrol and diesel will start to decline as traditional internal combustion engines are replaced in greater numbers by electric vehicles.”
As the market, both globally and in New Zealand, starts to move away from fossil fuels, Z is looking at other options to explore, with specific focus on three particular areas; future fuels, such as low/zero carbon products; the future of mobility, such as car-sharing; and utilising Z’s network of service stations for delivery of goods and services.
Z has already invested $250,000 in Wellington-based electric car-sharing start-up Mevo, which they used to scale its Wellington-based fleet to 50 vehicles, including a one-way airport service connecting the airport to Wellington CBD.
Z Energy is not the only energy company with interest in the car-sharing market.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, told the Financial Times that services such as Uber were potentially a more disruptive force than electric vehicles by reducing private car ownership.
The company was “looking across the entire mobility value chain at where we can invest and where we can position ourselves in response to changing patterns of transportation,” said Yasser Mufti, vice-president of corporate planning at the energy group to the Financial Times.
“The whole thing is up for grabs.”
