An insight into plans to help ease the shift to an electric future.

The motorist plugs his car into a Z Energy charger for electric vehicles at the local service station. There’s a bit of time to kill, so he heads inside for a coffee and fishes out of his pocket the list of basic groceries his wife asked him to buy on the way home.

He could have just gone home and plugged in his car, but the local Z is convenient – on the way home and, with the rising numbers of EVs on the roads, is becoming more of a community asset. It’s a 21st century take on the corner dairy, but styled like a café or bistro, replete with food and drinks and even take-home meals.

“Our aim is to see more of this store format in our retail network, especially at some of our larger sites,” says Lindis Jones, CEO of Z. “Customers will be able to top up their groceries or, if they are dashing home from work, pick up a ready-made meal for the family.”

The idea for this forecourt-of-the-future has its genesis in the rise of EVs and Z’s plans to cater for the needs of motorists while recharging their vehicles – one of several customer-focused initiatives Z is embracing as an opportunity as they help customers through the energy transition.

“The country has to move to a low-carbon future and I believe Z has a fundamental role to play in that,” Jones says. “Through our nationwide network of retail sites, we have an opportunity to contribute to this transition.”

Z is one of New Zealand’s leading transport energy companies. Around one in five Kiwi visit every week but Jones says, despite Z’s role as a highly visible business in almost every community across the country, many people are unaware of the steps it is taking to evolve as the needs of New Zealanders change.

“Service stations are extremely busy. You are dealing with thousands of customers a day, so it is important to understand what they want.”

“We have seen from the experience of companies in Europe and the US that those who pay attention to customer needs have been the most successful.”

While the number of EVs on New Zealand roads is still small (73,000 fully electric light vehicles were registered to the end of January out of a total fleet of 4.5 million), Jones says research suggests the EVs will represent about 10 per cent of the light passenger fleet by 2030.

This presents challenges and opportunities for Z – like how to help Kiwi charge vehicles on-the-go (at service stations) and at home. The development of larger, more chic convenience offerings at service stations is one of those opportunities.

“We realise that, as customers wait for their vehicle to be recharged, we have an opportunity to ensure our retail offering is gold standard. We serve millions of coffees a year to motorists on-the-go so our challenge is how we build on this,” Jones says.

One of the key steps is the installation of charging bays at existing Z sites. To date it has 107 located at 38 of its service stations and is aiming to have a total of 150 charging bays in place by the end of this year.

Z is also working to help Kiwi recharge vehicles at home. “There is always a lot of excitement about buying an EV, but when people get home they need a charging solution,” says Jones. “This is where things can often go awry – they don’t have the right voltage or power cords might not be suitable”.

“To help, we offer Evnex smart home chargers through our home electricity plan, which are more effective than simply having a power cord hanging out a window,” Jones says. “They can recharge a vehicle up to four times faster than using a three-pin plug (although slower than a public charger such as those at Z stations) and are able to manage a home’s power load.”

Jones says Z is aiming to make recharging as easy as possible for EV owners because it has been identified as a stumbling block for some in buying a vehicle in the first place.

Research conducted internationally by the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility confirms this view. In its 2022 consumer pulse survey held in nine countries including the US, China, France, Germany and Japan, 70 per cent of those questioned said they thought charging infrastructure was inadequate while 42 per cent said they would only buy an EV if public charger availability was as adequate as that of existing gas stations.

But 15 per cent of consumers are also worried that power networks would not be able to meet surging demand as EV numbers grew.

Jones says despite progress so far, the transition is going to take time. “We are very early in our journey and are still learning. But, as more EVs hit the roads, we will get a better understanding of what customers want from us and the innovations needed”.

“At the same time, we still have to ensure we run our core business well and guarantee supply of existing fuel products to keep the economy and New Zealanders moving.”

For more information, go to Z Energy