Like many New Zealanders, we care deeply about the environment and want to do all we can to help.
Sometimes we’re asked about ‘Green Removals’ where that relates to electric vehicles. So, we’d like to share our thoughts on that one.
In just a few years, electric vehicles have gone from being a novelty (we need to remember, they had battery-powered vehicles over a century ago) to a real commercial and practical proposition. Cars like the incredible Tesla-S and others have proven that beyond doubt.
However, things aren’t quite so far advanced as far as electrically-driven vans and trucks are concerned. While they do exist, many remain in the ‘proof of concept’ stage and so far, trial rollouts have been restricted to city centres and so on.
There are still some problems with the technology when applied to vehicles such as household or office removals trucks. They include:
• Restrictions of vehicle range
• Power haulage demands and battery life
• The time required to recharge between uses.
All of these things are being worked on and progress, we believe, is rapid. That includes things like in-road charging as you go, easy swap-out and fast-charge battery systems etc. Even so, as of today, a complete switch over to battery powered vehicles isn’t technically and commercially feasible for many operators of goods vehicles.
There are other technologies on the horizon including fuel cells and alternative fuels but in most cases, these remain at the R&D stage.
So, for the time being, most road haulage and commercial transport companies have little alternative but to stay with conventionally-powered vehicles. We are though, keeping a close-eye on this technology as it develops and would love to see the day when near pollution-free vehicles, of all types, are the norms on the roads of New Zealand and elsewhere.