Top of the class for Electric Vehicles
What was the issue?
Based in Hamilton, the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) is one of the country’s most well-known institutes of technology. With a great reputation for delivering high-quality education across vocational-technical and professional fields of study, it serves around 13,000 students at any one time. And that means staff and students are often on the go.
Wintec’s main goals were to reduce their total fleet carbon emissions, while reducing the size of their fleet. By using the vehicles due for replacement as a ‘first round’ to test EV appetite and uptake, Wintec were able to assess their long-term goal of having a fully electrified passenger fleet.
How did we solve it?
By crunching the numbers to understand Wintec vehicle use and distances travelled, then designing a unique solution that would work for everyone.
The opportunity to do a pilot transition was a smart move – allowing Wintec to finance the initial investment, test uptake, and ask for feedback. After our initial analysis, it became clear that EV’s could easily replace Wintec’s Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles and provide the carbon emissions reduction they were looking for.
Wintec Hyundai IONIQ EV
What was the result?
We.EV recommended Wintec buy eight Hyundai IONIQ EV’s and install a total of 9 chargers, complete with smart charging and dynamic loading, to help reduce local network load. This not only optimised costs but also helped maintain vehicle battery health.
The IONIQ was chosen thanks to its range capability, which covered 99% of all daily trips and also allowed for an impressive 92% reduction in kg of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per 100km. (An average of around 3 tonnes of CO2e per year per vehicle.)
Charged and ready
With Wintec’s support, We.EV sourced the nine chargers and project-managed the entire installation of the charging infrastructure in Wintec’s campus carpark building. Given that the vehicles are parked overnight there, it meant almost all of these EV batteries were fully charged by the next morning.
Our experience in charger installation meant we could look ahead for a solution that would last – optimising electricity costs with dynamic load control, ensuring compliance, and utilising other factors like procurement, quality, lifespan, and usability.
…They had heard about us introducing EV fleets to other organisations, and understood the importance of investing time into change management and education…
Smarter than your average EV
For Wintec, our experience mattered. They had heard about us introducing EV fleets to other organisations, and understood the importance of investing time into change management and education – rather than just let people ‘get on with it’ with new vehicles. This was essential to get positive buy in from the widest possible audience of users.
While it’s still early days, the results have been impressive so far – with a new ‘EV steering group’ driving the change and ensuring the project went smoothly. In partnership with We.EV, Wintec will continue monitoring EV uptake within the organisation so they can support their users on the journey of transitioning their fleet to a more sustainable solution.
So they’re not just powering young minds – they’re helping to drive sustainability targets too.