Evnex, the Christchurch-based maker of home chargers for electric vehicles, is claiming a New Zealand first for its latest app - which works with both its existing chargers and its new E2 model released today ($1395m or $2495 fully installed).
The app lets an EV owner see if the powerbeing used is generated from hydro, wind, solar, gas or coal.
It’s billed as the first commercial carbon monitoring of its type outside of the US and Europe.
The live data is refreshed every 30 minutes, using a feed supplied by Energy Market Services, a subsidiary of national grid operator Transpower.
Evnex CEO and cofounder Ed Harvey says the idea is not to lean on consumers to change power retailer if they see coal coming up too much on their app, but rather to nudge them into charging at a more environmentally-friendly time of the day. Cold winter mornings and events are prime time for coal, the use of which climbs when NZ’s 80 per cent hydro power generation comes under pressure.
The latest version of Evnex's app lets EV owners track how much carbon is being emitted to charge their car and see if the power being used is generated from hydro, wind, solar, gas or coal. Photo / Supplied
“The app also gives EV owners the ability to track and measure carbon emissions from their previous charging sessions. These features will also be rolled out for free to existing Evnex chargers,” Harvey says.
Harvey says Evnex has now sold around 2500 chargers in NZ - all in the home market - and has just established a beachhead in Australia with its first hire across the Tasman, and more staff being brought on board. The plan is to have a network of installers covering Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide within three months.
Evnex's new E2 charger, which cost $1395 for the box itself, or $2495 fully installed. (DIY is not an option, unless you're a registered electrician). The Christchurch-based firm says it has sold around 2500 home chargers so far.
Mains power trickles chargers at 1.4kW - meaning it can take up to 50 hours to fully charge an EV (exact charging times depend on make and model). Evnex’s 7.4kW charger can supply around 40km of range per hour. Evnex’s more expensive 22kW chargers (only available for homes with phase 3 wiring and a compatible EV) can provide up to 120km of range per hour.
As well as telling users the type of power being used to recharge their electric vehicle, Evnex’s app provides them with realtime charging updates via wi-fi, and can be used for scheduling a charge when power is cheaper (although users can also over-ride that with a “charge now” button on the E2). It can also be used to control charging from a home solar setup.
Evnex, which earlier raised $3 million from backers including Movac and Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1, also has an internet-of-things trial ongoing with Vector in Auckland, under which around 200 of its chargers (mostly on Waiheke Island) feed information to Vector, helping the lines company to load balance.
Harvey says the E2 has been two years in development and is made from 70 per cent bioplastic. He says all his firm’s 2500 chargers sold so far have been made in Christchurch and it won’t move manufacturing offshore.
Evnex’s potential market is expanding at a rapid clip.
March sales figures saw auto sales slow in NZ overall but pure electric vehicle says jump 63 per cent over March 2022 as 2656 new EVs were registered.
Evnex's new app reveals how much dirty energy your EV is using to recharge.
Pure EVs represented 16 per cent of total new vehicle registrations of 15,997 for the month.
The Government’s emissions reduction plan anticipates 1.3m EVs on NZ roads by 2035.
In the immediate term, the biggest pressure on our power system comes from the spate of hyperscale data centres being built in Auckland - which are both electricity hogs (Vector CEO Simon Mackenzie said they will collectively chug about 200 megawatts at peak usage in Auckland, which average demand today, for the whole city, is around 1700 megawatts) and a demand-driver that’s helping to fund new renewable power projects (Amazon recently committed to buy around 50 per cent of the renewable energy capacity of Mercury’s soon-to-be-completed 103 megawatt wind farm, near Palmerston North).
