Vehicle donated to Lake Taupō Hospice

Contact Energy environment and land manager Andy Gray (left), Lake Taupo Hospice CEO Karlynne Earp, Joce Stewart, Julie Brunton, and Lynette Greenwood of the hospice, and Contact Energy community relations adviser Sam Clemerson. Photo / Supplied

Contact Energy has given an electric vehicle to Lake Taupō Hospice and also installed an EV charger at Taupō Airport that is free to use.

The 2014 Nissan Leaf, charger installation and updated branding means Hospice staff have a sustainable and low maintenance way to get around for meetings with service providers, deliveries and visits to patients and families.

“We are extremely grateful to the team at Contact for their generosity of donating the car to us. We are often busy getting out and about during the week, and in the past, it has been challenging to roster the cars for everywhere we need to be”, says Joce Stewart, educational facilitator at Lake Taupō Hospice.

“This is our first branded vehicle too, so it’s a great way to get the hospice visible in our community.”

After Contact upgraded its vehicle carpool fleet, it decided to donate the EV to a local group because the car had done very low kilometres.

“Instead of selling it, we felt the right thing to do was to donate it to a local charity”, said Sam Clemerson, community relations adviser at Contact.

“It’s important to give back to the communities we operate in. This is something which is a small gesture for us but will make a world of difference to the hospice. We are an intergenerational company, and our future relies on supporting our communities.

The EV was purchased in 2017 as a dedicated car for transporting Contact staff from Taupō Airport to Contact sites in the area.

“We recognised that an EV would remove the emissions that were created from using petrol vehicles, and it would ensure more carpooling between our staff and reduce our reliance on rental cars — and therefore save costs. It has been highly successful, and our staff have really enjoyed using it.”