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An iX in its natural habitat, charging at Franz Josef (Photo: Don Rowe; Additional design: The Spinoff)
An iX in its natural habitat, charging at Franz Josef (Photo: Don Rowe; Additional design: The Spinoff)

PartnersMarch 8, 2022

How one ambitious network is bringing Aotearoa up to EV speed

An iX in its natural habitat, charging at Franz Josef (Photo: Don Rowe; Additional design: The Spinoff)
An iX in its natural habitat, charging at Franz Josef (Photo: Don Rowe; Additional design: The Spinoff)

In the first part of a brand new series, Don Rowe dives into the infrastructure putting the Aotearoa EV revolution in motion.

Talk to almost any electric vehicle neophyte and they’ll probably start with two questions: where do I charge them, and how far can they go? 

At the end of 2016 there were just 20 commercial electric vehicle charging stations in New Zealand. Today, six years later, that number is closer to 300 public rapid chargers across both islands, with many more likely installed on public and private properties. That 1500% increase was seeded in large part by a 2016 partnership between ChargeNet and BMW, announced by then minister of transport Simon Bridges who said charging infrastructure was a “vital part of the ecosystem” necessary to make electric vehicles a success.

The ChargeNow partnership saw the two companies install more than 100 direct current stations around Aotearoa, with a view towards creating an “Electric Highway” spanning the country and unlocking long-distance travel for EV drivers. Since then ChargeNet has installed hundred of additional fast charging points with the support of New Zealand Government’s Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund administered by the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority.

Karol Abrasowicz-Madej, managing director of BMW Group New Zealand, says BMW saw the same chicken-and-egg problem of charging infrastructure and EV uptake. But in a country with 80% renewable energy on the grid, the problem also created an opportunity. 

“Entrepreneurship is a part of our DNA and a part of that is futuristic thinking. If we believe that the future of mobility will change, we need to think like our customers,” says Abrasowicz-Madej. “We need to ask ourselves ‘what will the customer need in order to consider a purchase of the vehicle that we provide?’ The first thing that comes to mind is charging infrastructure. We might have a fantastic product but if there is no chance to charge them up…you can’t drive them. That’s why we partnered with ChargeNet on the rollout of their network.”

This story from the Electric Highway is brought to you by BMW i, pioneering the new era of electric vehicles. Keep an eye out for new chapters in Don’s journey each week, and to learn more about the style, power and sustainability of the all-electric BMW i model range, visit bmw.co.nz.

Charging infrastructure is one of two key psychological pain-points facing potential customers, says Abrasowicz-Madej, the other being range anxiety. And so, as the ChargeNet network grew BMW introduced the i3, one of only two fully electric vehicles available to buy firsthand on the market at the time. In 2015 it was awarded the AA New Zealand Car of the Year award. 

“We knew that bringing a pioneering vehicle onto the road would help our customers to adapt to a new market. This is a car that perfectly fits areas like Auckland. We were confident that the distances the car would cover are enough for the daily commute – an average New Zealander drives 22km a day, maybe 40km in Auckland if someone is living outside of the CBD.” 

Karol Abrasowicz-Madej, managing director of BMW Group New Zealand (Photo: supplied)

The success of the i3 encouraged BMW to continue to grow their range of electrified vehicles, attracting customers through what Abrasowicz-Madej calls ‘the power of choice’ – give the customer options, and they will come. New Zealand lifestyles often demand more than a hatchback runabout, so models like BMW’s X3, a full size SUV, were electrified, offering hybrid models alongside traditional internal combustion engines. And now, with the release of the iX, BMW has brought a fully electric SUV to market. 

But in order to provide the choice of larger vehicles, with longer ranges, the network needed to expand. 

Today, following six years of investment from ChargeNet and its partners, electric vehicle charging stations are near ubiquitous; from Kaitaia to Kaikoura, Turangi to Tekapo – even halfway up Arthur’s Pass – the softly humming towers can be found. Along New Zealand’s state highways, a charger is available roughly once every 75km. And most chargers are placed strategically near cafes, supermarkets and attractions like the National Army Museum in Waiouru, removing another pain-point: boredom. 

Unlike automakers like Tesla, whose charging stations are hard-locked to their vehicles, the ChargeNet chargers on the Electric Highway are available to all. The availability of hundreds of chargers across New Zealand has helped power a historic growth period in the electric vehicle market, which has doubled annually from 2016 to 2019. Today, there are around 38,000 EVs on New Zealand roads, up from 25,000 this time last year – and significantly more than the 5000 registered in 2020. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority predicts that number to grow to up to 165,000 vehicles by the end of 2023.

“Putting in the chargers means that already at the time of purchasing the vehicle, it is not only convenient for our customers but it is future-oriented,” says Abrasowicz-Madej. “We are working towards customer satisfaction, not building barriers to create stickiness to a charger. Instead we created stickiness to a product. 

“Customer satisfaction comes from the use of the product. We want them to charge wherever, whenever, and we want them to stay mobile in the premium environment we have designed for them.”

But, says Abrasowicz-Madej, there is no premium experience without sustainability. BMW breaks sustainability down into three areas, he says: governance, social responsibility and environmental responsibility. BMW considers where the car is produced, who is working in the factories, and where the energy is coming from that powers the plants – in their case the majority of energy is generated through wind and solar panels. 

ChargeNet chargers dot the entire country – even in remote locations like Arthur’s Pass (Photo: Don Rowe)

“We also look at the sourcing of cobalt and lithium which we believe should come from extremely controlled and clean sources, which we buy through our own systems from Australia and Morocco then deliver to manufacturers. We look at the use of raw materials in order to avoid the deterioration of the climate, and secure our aluminium from suppliers who produce it using green energy. We use things like fishing nets for the production of floor mats.” 

And although transport accounts for around 20% of New Zealand’s carbon emissions, a shift to electric vehicles alone will not solve the problem of emissions globally – electrifying every light vehicle in New Zealand would increase electricity demands by around 20%. And so electrification is only one part of a wider move towards sustainability which must encompass the entire supply chain, says Abrasowicz-Madej.

“We look at every single element and try to reduce the CO2. That is why we have the goal of 80/40/20, which is an 80% reduction of CO2 emissions in the supply and production chain, a 40% reduction on the unit emissions per car, and a 20% reduction in the end phase.”

Reducing emissions will take the intervention of governments, investors, automotive manufacturers like BMW as well as the public at large. A key step is the accelerating shift to zero emission vehicles spurred by the increasingly ubiquitous Electric Highway, but progress remains a collective effort. No one party can drive change alone.

Keep going!
Dr Hinemoa Elder at Piritahi Marae, Te Huruhi Bay on Waiheke Island (Photo: Ellie Richards; additional design: Tina Tiller)
Dr Hinemoa Elder at Piritahi Marae, Te Huruhi Bay on Waiheke Island (Photo: Ellie Richards; additional design: Tina Tiller)

PartnersMarch 6, 2022

Hinemoa Elder on tackling child poverty with empathy and mātauranga Māori

Dr Hinemoa Elder at Piritahi Marae, Te Huruhi Bay on Waiheke Island (Photo: Ellie Richards; additional design: Tina Tiller)
Dr Hinemoa Elder at Piritahi Marae, Te Huruhi Bay on Waiheke Island (Photo: Ellie Richards; additional design: Tina Tiller)

Sunday March 6 is Children’s Day. The Spinoff spoke to child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Hinemoa Elder about what New Zealanders can do to tackle child poverty.

Dr Hinemoa Elder (Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) describes poverty as a disease. It’s a disease that affects all aspects of a young person’s life. While it’s most visible in its economic impact, it also infects a child’s identity, their sense of self worth, their aspirations. Elder calls this “poverty of the mind”.  

Elder is New Zealand’s only Māori child and adolescent psychiatrist. Her work identifies the effects of trauma – physical, psychological and environmental – on the way young New Zealanders, and especially young Māori, are able to navigate through life. Her mission is to change the path for those impacted by poverty.  

Med school and her early career as a doctor were important in helping her think broadly about the multiple causes and impacts of her patients’ health problems. Now, her work as a psychiatrist is about examining the interconnected impacts causing distress, and providing a holistic response to treat that young person’s mental health.  

“Psychiatry trains us in the pathology of the mind and how the mind is part of the entire organism, the entire experience of being human. Psychiatry focuses on the disruption to the functioning of the mind and how that impacts on people’s lives,” she says. 

Dr Hinemoa Elder at Piritahi Marae at Te Huruhi Bay on Waiheke Island (Photo: Ellie Richards)

Her work takes her to the sharpest point of poverty’s impact. She writes youth forensic reports for the courts, to provide insight into the mental health of young people who enter the justice system and unpack what led them to that point. And then she is part of the collective effort to support them to never come back to court again. She also works at Starship Hospital in the child and family and mother and baby units. Here she sees 12- to 18-year-olds and new and expectant mothers who are suffering from severe mental health issues and helps them get better. 

This position gives her a unique perspective on the causes, impacts and solutions to child poverty in Aotearoa. Which was why in 2021, Elder was invited to join the charity Share My Super as patron. Share My Super helps channel New Zealanders’ surplus superannuation to trusted charities working on the ground in communities in response to child poverty. Elder chose to join Share My Super because she saw an alignment with the way she works. 

“They’re practical. I’m a practitioner. I’m a doctor. I want to see things get done. I want to see things change. Share My Super is about giving the people who already know what to do the money to do it. Let’s get rid of the barriers and fund those people who already know their communities and are known by their communities and trusted by them,” she says.  

The Spinoff spoke to Elder about how we solve child poverty in New Zealand, why that starts with empathy and humanising the issue, and the role of mātauranga Māori in supporting rangatahi


Share My Super’s charity partners work together to impact children’s lives. Join the community uniting against child poverty today at www.sharemysuper.org.nz


You see a disproportionate number of Māori in your work. Why is that?

We know that around 40% of those referrals to the child and family unit are for our rangatahi Māori. And also in the youth justice settings, we know that we are vastly overrepresented and much more likely to come to the court end of things.

We’ve got lots of robust research that shows that our youth justice systems and the things that feed into those systems are racist. So when a Māori young person is apprehended by the police, the police make different discretionary decisions. Our young people are much less likely to be offered a family group conference and are much more likely to be charged and to go to court. And we know that once people go to court, the outcomes are not as good. 

In terms of presentation to inpatient units, there’s a whole range of factors. One is that we know that our young tamariki, mokopuna, rangatahi are less likely to access primary mental health and secondary mental health services in the community where the progression of their illness might be prevented and reduce the need for them to go to hospital. We also know that our rangatahi have more complex presentations. And that very much touches on the kaupapa of poverty. 

When we say the words “child poverty”, we can say those two words quite quickly, and we can miss all the layers of human suffering and pain that are embedded in those two short words. We know that tamariki, mokopuna who grow up in poverty have an increased risk of developing mental health problems throughout their lives. That poverty is a disease. And it infects all aspects of how children grow up. It affects how they think about their futures; the poverty of mind that comes alongside the poverty of economics and of opportunity.

How do we respond to this problem in a way that addresses that human side and changes experiences for individuals?

We want to respond in ways that are ecological. We live in a world which places a lot of emphasis on independence and individuality. But the tamariki who are most affected by poverty are Māori and Pasifika children, and we live in a much more collective and connected sense. So any actions that are going to impact effectively need to have that in mind. 

That’s one of the reasons I became involved with Share My Super, because they are taking a different approach. The organisation is a smart way for people who are getting superannuation to funnel their money into charities – 11 specific charities who are very much about the ecology around tamariki, whether it’s to do with their learning, whether it’s to do with the essentials of their daily life, having shoes and food and books. 

Dr Hinemoa Elder at Piritahi Marae at Te Huruhi Bay on Waiheke Island (Photo: Ellie Richards)

There are government and local authorities trying to address child poverty, but the pace of change is very slow. And I see children suffering every day. So I want to speed things up as much as I can and advocate for that. The Share My Super idea is about practical solutions that are being enacted now. 

The charity space is a highly contested one. There’s a lot of competition for money, and Share My Super is really aware of that. And they’re working with a different kind of networking amongst the charities to try to build a “we are bigger than the sum of our parts” approach, which I think is really smart. 

Because the people who are actually doing the work are in the communities, they’re well known, they’re well respected. Women’s Refuge, Wellington City Mission, Aka Mātātupu Teach First, Pillars, PARS, Child Poverty Action Group, Digital Future Aotearoa, KidsCan, First Foundation, Hillary Outdoors, Variety – the Children’s Charity. These are organisations who’ve been going for a long time and they are at the nitty gritty interface with our whānau. I am excited about the broad range of options that Share My Super provides.

You come to the problem with a te ao Māori lens. What role does mātauranga Māori have in responding to the issue?

I think knowing our history and making sure that Te Tiriti is very much front and centre is really important. And mātauranga is absolutely a part of that. It can be very practical, kitchen-table type, ordinary-life mātauranga Māori about how our people respond best. 

As well as food and shoes and warm houses, when our children who live in poverty have access to our reo and our tikanga and their own histories, immediately, you’re shifting their understanding of their value. Te reo and our history is a key component to get rid of child poverty of the mind and of their lives. 

Share My Super is really careful about how they continue to support the charities who are actually at the front end and move more money into the mahi that’s actually being done by the right people. They’re not trying to take over and say “we know better”. They know that they don’t know better. But they do know how to get the money and how to funnel that money into the right places. My work and experiences as a Māori doctor are essential parts of what I’m bringing to the table, and in supporting what is already embedded in the Māori organisations who are doing the mahi.

Why is compassion and empathy so important and powerful?

I think we have a lot of work to do to build a more compassionate, understanding society, which can actually reflect on the evidence as to why Māori and Pacific people are much more likely to live in poverty. To be a witness to the humanity of intergenerational poverty. 

In our country, people can live in their own socioeconomic bubble. And they can hear these words, “child poverty”, but they don’t really get to have contact with the reality of what that means. That’s what Share My Super is providing. I think it’s really brave and important – it’s a different way to do things that in just three years is already showing some robust efficacy in turning things around for our tamariki.

I think it’s critical to find ways, effective ways, honouring ways to help people stand in other people’s shoes. To really look into the eyes of those people and to recognise the privilege of not growing up like that. And to think about what’s a way to work with people and to make sure that they stand in their own mana, no matter what. Tamariki have their own mana. They are tūpuna of the future. 

I think it’s part of how we learn as a society to not turn away, and to not minimise, and to not be in denial. It’s been a huge problem in our country for so long. And we’ve had governments talk about how they’re going to change it and we don’t see much change. In fact, what we see is a growing entrenchment of child poverty. So it is hard to really face it because we’d really rather not. It’s hard, it’s painful and it forces us to reflect on the increasing divide and inequities in our society.

What are your aspirations for Aotearoa? 

My aspirations are for a bilingual country – te reo Māori and English. That our Māori history is taught in school throughout, from the womb, from pēpi and in developmentally appropriate ways. I think that that’s key. And I imagine an Aotearoa where everyone is bilingual, at the very least. We have more than 140 other languages in our country and that’s a testament to our rich, diverse cultural life. Let’s make sure the tūāpapa, let’s make sure the foundations are clear and solid and robust. And that is te reo Māori and English. I think it will also shift the political mindset. 

I am excited about our rangatira mō āpōpō, our young ones, our leaders of the future, and how vibrant they are and how they express their Māori identity in everything that they do. What these kinds of activities do is unlock all of that and throw away those chains and really create that freedom of decolonising our minds, of re-indigenising our lives.

But wait there's more!