Power Trip’s 'Game Plan' to accelerate NZ's switch to EVs

Technology innovator Power Trip has unveiled an application that aims to revolutionise New Zealand-based companies' move towards a greener vehicle fleet, mitigating historical issues around vague data and under-confidence. A significant portion of companies in New Zealand are contemplating a shift from petrol or diesel-powered fleets to fully electric. However, until now, the data backing their decisions has been speculative at best. The recently launched application, known as "Game Plan," makes the transition to a zero-emission fleet straightforward.

Game Plan is already in use by organisations such as Kinga Ora and Fulton Hogan and supports businesses in conducting extensive Electric Vehicle (EV) simulations. Such simulations can help fleet and sustainability managers carry out detailed EV feasibility examinations and fleet optimisation studies. Aspects such as potential savings on fuel and maintenance costs, real-world performance, driving range, charging time, and the impact of incorporating various EV models into the fleet are part of the analysis. Power Trip utilises a data-driven strategy that blends geospatial, EV specification, and charging network data with data pertinent to a fleet's unique routes and driving requirements. This unique methodology significantly outpaces conventional spreadsheet-based analyses, fostering more robust decision-making.

Frequently, consultants are employed to guide a fleet's transition, which can be costly and often confined to a shallow analysis of mileage. This approach has resulted in numerous fleets only electrifying a handful of under-utilised vehicles and selecting hybrids for the remainder. Ambiguities in planning, such as whether public or workplace charging will accommodate staff travel needs, are substantial. Richard Heaps, the founder of Power Trip, highlighted the impact of more precise data and investigation, "For these customers, accurate data and analysis is invaluable, and we've seen one fleet we work with go from 'being stuck' at 4% EV uptake to 36% of their fleet within a year - an 800% improvement - simply through better data."

Launched in 2019, the initial version of the app had just one basic function: predicting the realistic range of electric vehicles, and the efficacy of their battery, based on geospatial data. Now, following several financial contributions from Angel Investors, Power Trip has expanded the platform to become an important decision-making tool for those maintaining vehicle fleets of significant size.

Power Trip is presently in the process of raising a Seed Round that will allow for an expansion of the team and considerable investment in efforts to augment the application's user base. Although New Zealand is the pilot market for the app, Power Trip plans to expand this offering to additional markets once the funding round is completed.