by DavidSpratt | Feb 10, 2019 | Energy
Warning! Formidable Japanese electric vehicles (EVs) are coming to a dealer near you this year.
After reviewing European and American EVs last year, I was offered the Mitsubishi XLS SUV plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to test during my holiday break.
The XLS currently retails at $50,990 plus on-road costs (NZD). This puts it right in the sweet spot for businesses looking for a workhorse, four-wheel drive SUV.
Unlike two years ago when high prices and low residuals were a real turnoff for businesses, electric and hybrid SUVs are now in high demand on the second-hand market, and my industry contracts confirm premium trade in prices and strong lease residuals.
Lease companies’ reservations about financing EVs and PHEVs have largely evaporated.
The XLS combines a 2l petrol engine with twin electric motors, giving you a theoretical fuel efficiency of 1.7 litres of petrol per 100km travelled. In theory if you were running the electric motor only and never exceeded its specified range of 54km, then this incredible efficiency is quite possible.
However, in Auckland motorway traffic, I found a single tank of gas and a $1.50 overnight charge got me well over 700km or 6.43 litres of fuel for every 100km travelled: still an excellent range result by any measure.
Pragmatic manufacturing
When I drained the EV battery the XLS automatically switched to petrol power. It also offered the option of “charge” mode that used the petrol engine, engine braking and inertia, to recharge the electric motor. This proved more expensive in fuel usage but was convenient, simple and practical – Japanese manufacturing at its most pragmatic.
Charging has often been a bone of contention for users hooked on the convenience of petrol stations. This PHEV delivered a fast charge to 80 per cent in just 20 minutes. As fast chargers become more common the convenience gap should be a minor irritant for most users. We will have to alter our behaviours a little though.
Mitsubishi now offers a 160,000km, five-year warranty on the motor and an eight-year warranty on the battery. This largely matches the warranties offered for their petrol and diesel options.
So enough of the technicalities. What did I and the love of my life think of this Japanese invader? For me, words like practical, common sense, hardworking and efficient come to mind. My beloved liked the excellent visibility from both front and rear seats, the sensitive steering and braking and the fact that the vehicle looked stylish without losing its fundamental functionality.
We both loved the spacious leg room and fold-down seats for carrying luggage, samples and tools in the back.
We didn’t like the oddly small driver’s rear vision mirror. The acceleration and sustained performance that we have come to expect from electric vehicles wasn’t to the fore either. Not that the XLS was underpowered, it’s just that when you are used to the romance and zip of a pure electric motor the hybrid felt a bit like kissing your sibling: underwhelming.
Overall, I really liked this solid addition to the SUV fleet.
The years 2019 and 2020 will see big moves from Asian manufacturers into the EV market. Soon the combined price, residuals, fuel efficiency, reliability and convenient charging of hybrid and pure electric vehicle categories will make the business case very compelling for New Zealand enterprises looking to drive out costs, reduce capital deployed and contribute to a sustainable world for future generations.
Businesses will do well to keep a close eye on how they can reap the benefits.
I gave the Mitsubishi XLS PHEV a sturdy 7.5 out of 10.
See more electric car reviews, or New Zealand analysis of the electric car business case.
by DavidSpratt | Feb 8, 2019 | ICT
The below article was published recently in IT Brief New Zealand magazine.
The -aaS consumption model is nothing new when it comes down to brass tacks – it’s exactly how we’ve been consuming electricity ever since Edison and Tesla were squabbling.
Over the last 130 or so years, electricity consumption has risen and with it, the cost.
This is why Total Utilities stepped in to help businesses in New Zealand ensure that their power costs were being thoughtfully managed through analysis of quantitative and qualitative data.
Now, the team at Total Utilities have brought their years of experience and the array of tools at their disposal to help enterprises transition to the cloud in the most cost-effective and outcome-focused way possible.
Total Utilities strategy and transformation director David Spratt explained that as a company that specialises in the analysis of data, migration to the cloud is a no-brainer.
“The intellectual battle over the cloud is done,” Spratt says.
“if you haven’t heard about the multitude of advantages that public cloud can bring to any organisation, then you haven’t been listening. To be competitive from our corner of the world, you need to be using world-class technology and today, that means public cloud.”
Every day, more enterprises move onto the cloud. Every day, another startup is born there, ready to displace their predecessors. And every day, you have someone else tell you that if you don’t move now, you’re done for.
Total Utilities is not interested in this kind of manic hyperbole. In fact, the team’s knowledge and expertise in the cloud was inspired not just by their love of the tech, but more importantly by their passion for saving money for their clients.
“As a completely vendor-agnostic consultancy, we aren’t trying to convince anyone to spend more or upsell to products they don’t need,” Spratt explains.
“If your company has brand new servers that are fully functional and ticking along happily, you probably aren’t interested in migrating everything right now. We understand that and want to guide both IT specialists and C-level executives to make the right decisions about what should be moved, how it should be moved, and when to move it.”
Total Utilities helps organisations bridge the communication gap between IT and the C-suite, speaking both languages, and suggesting clear, evidence-based options that are all about making life easy for the techies, and making money for the execs.
This is not some upstart company aiming to build their experience – for the last five years, they have worked with New Zealand’s major kiwifruit exporter and agricultural giant Zespri, providing financial insights and ongoing evidence of the value that migrating to Azure has brought.
“We said to Zespri, ‘Are you really in the business of owning and operating IT?’ And of course they’re not,” Spratt elaborates.
“But certain key services they have to deliver. So how do you get out of the business of owning and operating tin boxes that go ping, and into the business of providing all the services that give a business strategic advantages?”
Total Utilities performed assessments in every area to see what the cloud could offer. They looked at the obvious benefits like the ability to copy/paste their systems for deployment in any country, simplified disaster recovery and backup, and the ability to scale up or down based on crop yield.
Scalability ended up being a key driver for Zespri as this transformation occurred at the same time as the much-publicised Psa disease that threatened to wipe out their gold kiwifruit stock.
Zespri wasn’t sure if it would end up with shipping numbers dropping from 80 million to 40 million, or if a new strain of fruit would take successfully and end up yielding 140 million. Total Utilities showed them how being in the cloud would mean they were ready for any eventuality.
But then they even dug deeper, looking at the cost per square metre of housing private servers, power costs, and the depreciation of hardware over time.
Today, Zespri still sits on Azure and continues to work with Total Utilities to ensure that it is always in the best position to achieve its goals as one of New Zealand’s biggest organisations.
Now, Total Utilities wants to help your organisation be as profitable and streamlined as it can possibly be – get in touch today to find out how.
by DavidSpratt | Dec 14, 2018 | ICT
For the third year in a row BusinessPlus has allowed me the opportunity to take the mickey out of a select group of businesses and individuals in this satirical Christmas “awards” wrap-up.
That’s a big call by the editor when my track record for saying the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time precedes me. If you are offended, I am in the phone book and on social media. If you have a laugh, then send the kudos to my brave editor.
Taking the Eye off the Prize Award – Auckland Council
When a huge storm with 200kph-plus winds blew out the candles on 150,000 Auckland households last April, we all sympathised with the hardworking Vector crews and management as they scrambled to ensure the hippies out West didn’t lose their indoor light garden, marijuana crops.
Later it turned out that a big part of the problem was damage caused by Auckland Council-controlled trees crashing down under the weight of reduced maintenance programmes and inadequate planning rules.
More focus on the basics might have left us not having to cook defrosted freezer contents over gas barbecues for a week
Social Media Brand Genius Award – Clarke Gayford
Clarke, could you be any more savvy than to be photographed standing, dripping sweat, in a skin-tight wetsuit while gently tucking your infant child into your rippling biceps?
Creating a personal social media brand bigger than a Kardashian’s booty while retaining the job title of “stay-at-home dad”, you even found the time to construct a patio deck for your house while in the midst of new parenthood.
In a blow to husbands and partners across the nation, your smiling perfection has exposed our hopeless parenting inadequacies for all to see. To make matters worse for me the remains of my broken self-esteem were wiped away when my partner hissed those fateful words, “Why can’t you be more like him?”
Curdled Milk Award – Fonterra
Take billions of dollars’ worth of farmers’ hard-won milk products, package them up for international consumption, add a highly paid exec team and shiny new Auckland Viaduct offices, then deliver a loss of $140 million.
This is usually a recipe for pitchforks and flaming torches. It’s lucky Fonterra’s shareholders couldn’t afford the newly excised fuel to get their tractors to the ritual burning. Hopefully 2019 will see a return to form for what is usually the shining star of our agricultural economy.
Accident Waiting to Happen Award – Steel and Tube
Steel & Tube has been fined a record $1.885 million for breaching the Fair Trading Act by making false and misleading representations about its steel mesh products that are used in construction to provide strength and stability in the event of an earthquake.
Getting the product testing wrong had the potential to wreak havoc on our roads, but for the timely intervention of the Commerce Commission and the prompt admission of error by the company.
The irony was not lost on the writer that recent company share buyers have included the New Zealand Government through the Accident Compensation Corporation.
If Fletcher Building’s takeover attempt of Steel and Tube proves a success, expect far greater attention to be paid to test regimes and quality control than proved to be the case here.
Unsung Hero Award – Rod Drury, founder of Xero
Founder and still 13 per cent shareholder of Xero, Rod Drury, has proved that Kiwi companies can fly in the highly competitive international marketplace for accounting software.
Rod stepped down as CEO this year in further proof that emotionally secure, servant leaders can make way for innovation and change without ceasing to be brilliant entrepreneurs.
Xero has surpassed one million subscribers globally and heads a long list of New Zealand tech enterprises flexing their muscles internationally. Xero ships no physical product as it spreads its wings across the globe. Food for thought in a world looking for clean, green, sustainable solutions from countries such as New Zealand.
That’s it for 2018. Have a safe and restful break and a wonderful Christmas. See you in the New Year.
David Spratt is a director of Total Utilities. Email [email protected]
by DavidSpratt | Nov 14, 2018 | Energy
In this exclusive series of articles by David Spratt, he explores the electric vehicle (EV) options for specific business uses.
Part 3: Evaluating the Volkswagen e-Golf electric car.
It may be that I have now test driven one too many electric vehicles (EVs), but I have become increasingly irritated by the clunky and, dare I say, ugly designs that have been rolled out by some manufacturers.
Not the e-Golf, though. Volkswagen addresses this design challenge with a vehicle that feels familiar, comfortable and accessible from the moment you climb into it. Built from the ground up to look, feel and handle like a standard Golf Super Mini, this smart town car is a delight.
I want a car that can take me safely along country roads while allowing me to travel to the city, park in tight parking spots and save money on fuel. The e-Golf ticks every one of these boxes.
It accelerates smoothly and relatively quickly (from 0 to 100kph in 9.6 seconds).
It also has, for a small car, decent boot space and plenty of leg room for front and back seat passengers. I am six feet tall (1.83 metres for those of you living in the 21st century) and found the front and rear seating gave me plenty of leg room and riding comfort. My wife, a not-so-tall person, had an issue with seeing over the steering wheel for a clear view of the road ahead. But a simple height adjustment for the seat would have addressed this issue.
I live in the rural outskirts of Auckland and so want a car that can take me safely along country roads while allowing me to travel to the city, park in tight parking spots and save money on fuel. The Volkswagen e-Golf ticks every one of these boxes.
If I was to be critical though, there were occasions when the car’s electronics got themselves into a bit of a twist and just stopped working. On at least two occasions, the parking brake and the auto hold feature for hill starts went to war, leaving me stuck in one place with a warning light and screeching sound, raising my anxiety levels. In the end, the only answer seemed to be to switch everything off and start again: fine if you are in a parking lot but not great if you are pulling out into traffic. This may be the result of an idiot behind the wheel rather than a fault, but it happened to both me and my wife on separate occasions.
Are we there yet?
Range anxiety was also an issue with the e-Golf’s distance calculator.
One moment my predicted range was displayed as 157km, then a few minutes later was 140km, only to return to 150km a while after that. I put this down to the range calculator being very sensitive to driving style and conditions, but a bit less variability would have had me more focussed on the road and less on worry about getting home on the available charge.
But charging was a breeze. At home, using a simple three-pin connector, a total recharge took around 11 hours. My favourite, free, fast charger at Counties Power HQ took 45 minutes to get me up to 80 percent, plenty of time for a coffee and a quick browse around the shops nearby.
As is the case with all the electric vehicles I have tested, the e-Golf saw me spending less than $20 per week on charging with no concessions to convenience.
Despite the car’s price of $65,990 the economics for the average business owner almost make sense. Give it a year or two and EVs like this will be a no-brainer for many business applications.
My contacts tell me the Volkswagen e-Golf is rapidly becoming a European sensation, and the future of VW motoring. I can see why. This car is a little beauty.
I gave the Volkswagen e-Golf an admiring 7.5 out of 10.
Thanks to VW New Zealand for supplying the e-Golf for testing.
See more electric car reviews, or New Zealand analysis of the electric car business case.
by DavidSpratt | Oct 10, 2018 | Energy
In this exclusive series of articles by David Spratt, he explores the electric vehicle (EV) options for specific business uses.
Part 2: Evaluating the Tesla Model S P100D electric car
What do you get when you mix an eccentric, Los Angeles-based, internet billionaire with the desire to build an electric vehicle with speed and acceleration to challenge the world’s top performance cars?
The answer is the Tesla 100S, complete with vegan leather seats and “bio-weapon defence mode” to keep the car’s air fresh in case of anthrax attack.
I started test-driving the Tesla S (P100D model) with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Excitement because I knew this vehicle could take me from zero to 100kph in less than three seconds; and trepidation because of the $250,000 price tag and more personally the $5,000 insurance excess I agreed to when I signed for the car test.
After a week, the fear of crashing a car worth more than the deposit on a Ponsonby house had almost completely gone but the sheer thrill of an EV accelerating in Tesla’s infamous, “Ludicrous” mode remained days after I tearfully gave the car back.
Long range
So, what makes the P100D so special apart from its raw power? First is the range. This beast will travel from Auckland to Taupo and back on a single charge. That’s 600km.
Despite reservations about charging and spare tyres, the Tesla 100S is, bar none, the most exciting and innovative car I have ever driven.
There is a downside though. Recharging the 100kW battery from empty in your garage power point means a 36-hour wait. But for around $8,000 you can install a special Tesla charger at home that dramatically reduces this time.
After failing the home charging test, I resorted to Tesla’s free charging stations (there are six across the country, with many more to come). This will recharge from empty in less than an hour.
I also tried using the Counties Power free charger in Pukekohe, only to discover that the Tesla charging cable requires a special adapter to fit standard charging stations. As this adaptor was not provided, I skulked home and resorted to an overnight top-up before driving to town and the Tesla service centre, where the unfailingly helpful people charged my car and provided the adaptor.
No dirty hands
Speaking of not provided. The Tesla Model S has no spare tyre. Instead you push the help button, and someone turns up and changes it for you! This service comes free for the life of the car and includes towing you home if you run out of electric charge. Ah to be that rich!
When driving I felt safe and in control throughout, even around the challenging corners of Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges. Traction control, adjustable suspension and the stabilising weight of the Mosel S’s powerful batteries made for responsive handling and comfortable road feel, this despite the Tesla’s extraordinary performance characteristics.
The Tesla even comes with “Santa mode”: listen to Christmas carols and glimpse a sleigh pulled by reindeer on the screen while winding the car out to a top speed of over 250kph (in controlled conditions at Hampton Downs racetrack of course).
The bottom line. Despite reservations about charging and spare tyres, the Tesla S is, bar none, the most exciting and innovative car I have ever driven. With companies like Tesla driving change, the future of the EV is in safe hands.
I give the Tesla Model S an ecstatic 8.5/10.
*Thanks to Tesla NZ for providing the Tesla S model for trial. For all the specifications visit www.tesla.com
See more electric car reviews, or New Zealand analysis of the electric car business case.
