Powercut, schmowercut: Evnex’s $10m raise will fund a breakthrough product

"I recently upgraded from a Nissan Leaf to a Tesla Model 3, and I can now drive [330 kilometres] up to Marlborough to see my parents, for example, and I don’t even need to charge along the way. It’s actually very rare now that I even use public charging" - Evnex founder and CEO Ed Harvey. Photo / Chris Keall

Homegrown EV charger maker Evnex is gearing up for a major capital raise - and a new feature will help out homeowners during power cuts. Its founder has also weighed in on National’s front-foot EV policies.

Evnex will shortly seek around $10 million, with low emission-focused funds in Australia and NZ, plus Government-backed funds, among its prospective ports of call, founder and chief executive Ed Harvey says. The firm raised $2.7m in a 2021 seed round led by Movac and supported by Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 and others.

Evnex's E2 charger. Photo / Supplied

The new funds are earmarked for several projects, including expanding its push into Australia, and developing a bidirectional EV charger. That is, one that would allow your electric car’s battery to power your home during a power cut - or to temporarily run your house off your EV for a few hours when power rates are spiking, or even sell power back to the grid - with EV owners, collectively, making a major difference at crunch times. A subset of bidirectional charging will also let you use your EV’s battery to charge power tools or keep outdoor lights running.

Evnex founder and CEO Ed Harvey (left) with a technician on his firm's Christchurch assembly line.

“We’re potentially looking to bring a bidirectional product to market in 2025,” Harvey says. “We’re recognising that vehicle-to-grid or more bidirectional charging is starting to be supported by more and more vehicle manufacturers.”

The Evnex boss didn’t just pluck 2025 out of the air. That’s the year that Tesla has promised to add bidirectional charging to its vehicles (although Elon Musk’s preferred solution is for a punter to have Tesla solar panels feeding Tesla Powerwall home batteries, so a public power grid doesn’t factor into the equation).

Several EV makers have already added bidirectional support, including BYD and Hyundai, and its stablemate Kia. There have been some early stabs at bidirectional chargers by offshore home charger makers, but the setup is finicky, and the EECA has noted they’re still at least twice the price of one-way chargers.

And Mercury is trialling a bi-directional charger at its Christchurch office.

Verdict on National’s 10,000-charger plan

EV charging has had a bit of profile during the campaign, with National promising a public-private initiative to develop a network of 10,000 public EV chargers by 2030 - with leader Christopher Luxon citing “range anxiety” as a barrier to EV ownership.

Luxon said National would spend $257m over four years to build the chargers and revive the “highly successful” Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) funding model, which blended public and private sector investment.

For close watchers of the industry, it’s not a huge departure from the status quo. Under a scheme that began back when Simon Bridges was Transport Minister, and has been continued and expanded by the Labour-led Government, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) contestable grants have co-financed some 1300 public chargers nationwide (700 of which are operational so far), with around $6.4m in grants and $18.2m in private sector contributions (over its lifetime, the programme has allocated $54.9m in grants, matched by $112.1m in applicant funding).

National leader Christopher Luxon announcing a new electric vehicle policy in Christchurch on September 6. The party is promising 10,000 more public chargers, but is also abolishing the Clean Car Discount and the related "ute tax" penalties. Photo / George Heard

Obviously, all of Evnex’s skin is in the home-charging game (bar a few office garage installs), but the founder says we’ve got to factor in that NZ cities are different from those in the UK, and other countries that are often held up as a model.

“I don’t see public charging as being quite as much of a barrier for EV adoption in New Zealand as some people think. We have a lot of garages and driveways where cars can be charged. It’s very different from large cities like London, for example, where street-side and public charging networks are absolutely critical,” Harvey says.

“I think it’s a bit of a psychological barrier. For me, for example, I recently upgraded from a Nissan Leaf to a Tesla Model 3, and I can now drive [330 kilometres] up to Marlborough to see my parents, for example, and I don’t even need to charge along the way. It’s actually very rare now that I even use public charging. We’re not as reliant on the rapid charger infrastructure as you might think.”

Giving on one hand, taking on the other

“National’s policy is giving on one hand, and taking on the other in terms of what they’re doing with the scrapping [of] the Clean Car Discount,” Harvey says.

“The Clean Car Discount has had a pretty significant effect. We’ve gone from roughly 30,000 plug-in vehicles on our road in mid-2021 when the policy was launched up to over 80,000 today.

“So it would be fair to say it’s definitely worked. I recognise that it hasn’t been fiscally neutral as was hoped by the Government.”

Budget 2023 delivered a $100m top-up for the scheme to fill the shortfall between “ute tax” fees collected and low-emission vehicle rebates paid out.

But Harvey argues that costs will be recouped over the long term, and that EVs sold this year will filter through into the second-hand market - while, conversely, combustion engine cars shipped in 2023 will be contributing to higher emissions for the next 15 to 20 years.

“So, broadly speaking, I think it would be good to keep the Clean Car Discount for that reason. There’s probably a larger effect than what National’s proposing with the 10,000 chargers,” he says.

In bed with retailer

While EV sales have surged over the past year, home charging is a crowded field. How does a tiny Christchurch firm stand out?

Across the Tasman, Evnex has got a foot in the door through a partnership with Polestar Australia, which recommends the NZ-made chargers during its vehicle sales process (Polestar being Volvo’s EV spinoff). Harvey is angling to expand Evnex’s partnerships in Australia. In NZ, his firm is also the preferred charger for Skoda, LDV, Volvo, Polestar, Cupra and Volkswagen.

Then there’s the partnership that Evnex inked with Z Energy earlier this year. In April, Z assumed 100 per cent control of Flick Energy (having been the majority shareholder since 2018), but the deal is with a Z-branded service.

Z is now offering its customers a seven-kilowatt Evnex E2 smart charger for $2195, including installation - which Harvey notes is actually $200 cheaper than if you go through Evnex direct. It can be paid off over 24 months, interest-free.

Through a smartphone app, Evnex’s charger lets you top up your EV between 3am and 6am when Z offers free power.

Given the E2 can give around 40km of range per hour (the actual figure varies by EV make, model and the age of a car’s battery), that’s about 120km worth of charge for free. Z also offers half-price electricity between 9pm and 7am.

Evnex continues its smart pilot with lines company Vector, using its smart charging abilities to help balance the load on the network.

Vector CEO Simon Mackenzie earlier told the Herald that EV owners plugging in after rush hour was the worst possible time.

Harvey says, “For us, the priority at the moment is probably more partnerships with electricity retailers. It’s very advantageous for them because it means that they can incentivise you to shift your charging to times when the wholesale price is lower, which means they’re going to make more margin on the electricity - and it gives value back to the driver as well.”

Off-peak charging also usually means energy that’s generated by hydro, wind or solar rather than coal.

Keeping it Kiwi

Evnex hasn’t released any financials, but it has so far sold around 4000 chargers.

Harvey says his firm recently opened a Sydney office. He said the undisclosed Aussie sales had tripled over the past few months.

For now, there are no plans for world domination. The CEO says the $10m is earmarked for Australia and New Zealand only.

The firm will also be keeping design and manufacturing local. Its E2 smart charger, certified New Zealand-made, features all Kiwi components bar the cable, with injection moulding by Whanganui’s Axiam and printed circuit boards made in Marton.

The smart charging software, and unit assembly, are handled in-house by Evnex in Christchurch.

Lower risk

Lithium battery fires have been in the news lately, but Harvey points out that reports of EV fires have involved accidents on the road - and EV fires are much more rare than those involving internal combustion engines. He points to a US insurance company study that found 25 fires per 100,000 EV sales versus 1529 per 100,000 for petrol cars.

Reports of fires have also been skewed by the likes of low-cost e-scooters, which often utilise less sophisticated cells and battery management systems when compared with production electric vehicles.

Fire and Emergency NZ does not have data on how many car fires have involved internal combustion versus electric vehicles, a spokeswoman said.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.