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The third session in Priority One’s Our Energy Future event series explored the technologies, fuels and infrastructure shaping the future of transport and logistics in New Zealand. Bringing together perspectives from government, and experts in freight, fleet electrification, hydrogen and biofuels, the session looked at how businesses can begin reducing reliance on fossil fuels while maintaining cost, reliability and productivity.
Transport, including marine, air and rail, accounts for around 60% of emissions across the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga City. Alongside emissions, dependence on imported fossil fuels creates wider challenges around energy security, cost and resilience. Speakers were from EECA, National Road Carriers, Utility Fleet Vehicles Ltd, Change Fuel Technologies/HW Richardson, Hiringa and the Bioeconomy Science Institute. Here we share key insights from each of the speakers, along with a recording of all presentations (video above).
Key takeaways
- There’s unlikely to be one replacement for diesel across every transport application.
- Battery electric, hydrogen, dual-fuel systems and biofuels will each suit different operational needs.
- Fleet efficiency, routes, loads, charging requirements and operating hours should be understood before choosing a new technology.
- Charging and refuelling infrastructure remains one of the biggest considerations for heavy and long-haul transport.
- Whole-of-life cost matters more than purchase price alone, including fuel, payload, downtime, servicing and residual value.
- Hydrogen can offer advantages where payload, range and vehicle uptime are particularly important.
- Dual-fuel systems provide a transition pathway for businesses wanting to reduce diesel use while retaining operational flexibility.
- Biofuels are likely to play their strongest role in harder-to-electrify sectors such as aviation and maritime transport.
- Businesses do not need to predict one winning technology, but they should understand their options and develop a pathway for transition.
Navigating New Zealand’s Transport Energy Transition: Megan Wakefield, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA)
EECA’s Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund is helping businesses reduce some of the upfront cost involved in transitioning heavy fleets.
The fund can contribute up to 25% of the purchase price of eligible new battery electric heavy vehicles or eligible conversion costs. Funding is allocated on a first-in-first-served basis, with demand increasing and the available funding potentially being reached before the programme’s planned end in the 2027/28 financial year.
The vehicle itself is only one part of the decision. Businesses need to understand routes, loads, operating hours, charging requirements and how those needs may change over the life of the asset.
Things to consider:
- Optimise existing fleet utilisation and driver behaviour first.
- Understand the routes and distances vehicles need to cover.
- Consider whether on-site charging could provide greater cost certainty.
- Account for payload impacts and charging requirements.
- Plan beyond the initial pilot and consider how operations may change over time.
Key insight: Optimise the fleet first, then choose the technology that best fits the operation.
What Does the Energy Transition Mean for Freight?: James Smith, National Road Carriers
New Zealand has around 127,000 heavy commercial vehicles and consumes approximately 11 million litres of diesel every day, making the energy transition an economic and energy-security issue as well as an emissions challenge.
Operators still face barriers including capital cost, charging and refuelling infrastructure, residual-value uncertainty, payload and vehicle downtime. But the economics and technology are changing quickly.
Battery electric vehicles are becoming commercially viable in more applications, while hydrogen may be better suited to vehicles operating continuously where long charging periods are difficult to accommodate.
Key considerations:
- Infrastructure availability.
- Whole-of-life cost rather than purchase price alone.
- Residual value of both new and existing technologies.
- Payload and productivity impacts.
- Leasing as a way to reduce technology and residual-value risk.
Key insight: Don’t wait for certainty on every variable. Understand the options now and identify the point at which transition makes sense for your fleet.
Electrifying the Fleet: Grant Payton, Utility Fleet Vehicles Ltd
Utility Fleet Vehicles’ work with Australia Post demonstrated that fleet electrification requires more than simply replacing an internal combustion vehicle with an electric one. The vehicles needed to be designed around the realities of fleet operation: simplicity, reliability, range, ease of use and low maintenance. The transition also required support from fleet managers, engineers, riders, unions and servicing partners.
As the programme grew from a small trial into thousands of vehicles, servicing models, supply chains, customer support and internal systems also had to change. Utility Fleet Vehicles now supplies postal bikes to Australia Post, New Zealand Post and DX Mail.
Things to consider:
- Design around the actual needs of the fleet.
- Bring operators and servicing partners into the transition early.
- Consider how electric vehicles change servicing requirements.
- Make sure supply chains and support systems can scale with the fleet.
Key insight: Successful electrification means adapting the wider operating model around the technology, not simply changing the vehicle.
Hydrogen & Diesel – A Practical Pathway for Heavy Transport: Kim Hill, Change Fuel Technologies/HW Richardson
Change Fuel Technologies is taking an interim approach to reducing diesel use by converting existing diesel engines to operate using a combination of hydrogen and diesel. Hydrogen is injected into the engine alongside diesel, typically displacing around 30% of diesel consumption, although this can range from 15% to 50% depending on the application. If hydrogen is unavailable, the vehicle automatically returns to diesel-only operation.
The technology is designed to maintain payload, range and vehicle uptime. HW Richardson is also developing a one-megawatt hydrogen production facility in Invercargill capable of producing around 420kg of hydrogen each day and supporting approximately 30 dual-fuel trucks.
Benefits of dual-fuel systems include:
- Reduced diesel consumption.
- Minimal payload impact in most applications.
- No reliance on hydrogen being available for every journey.
- Fast refuelling.
- Ability to retrofit existing heavy vehicles.
Key insight: Dual fuel can provide a practical bridge for heavy transport businesses wanting to reduce diesel use without sacrificing operational flexibility.
Hydrogen, Green Methanol & What Comes Next: Dan Marsh, Hiringa
Green hydrogen offers a different set of advantages to battery electric technology. Battery systems are highly efficient, but battery weight and charging time can become constraints in heavy transport. Hydrogen has a higher energy density by weight and can transfer energy into a vehicle much faster, making it particularly relevant where payload, range, productivity and uptime are critical.
Hiringa currently has hydrogen refuelling stations at Wiri, Te Rapa, Tauriko and Palmerston North. Hydrogen is produced on site using one-megawatt electrolysers, helping to ensure reliable supply and stable pricing. Production is managed according to electricity prices, weather and expected demand. Sites can store around 700kg and produce approximately 440kg of hydrogen per day as demand allows. For context – Hiringa’s heavy-truck assumption is 50kg per truck fill.
The technology also has applications beyond road transport, with green ammonia and e-methanol being explored for agriculture, industrial and maritime use.
Potential applications include:
- Long-haul heavy freight.
- High-utilisation fleets.
- Industrial energy.
- Green ammonia and low-carbon fertiliser
- E-methanol for maritime transport.
Key insight: Hydrogen is unlikely to replace every transport fuel, but it could be particularly valuable in applications where energy intensity, payload and uptime make battery-only solutions difficult.
Biofuel: What’s Possible for the Future of Transport?: Paul Bennett, Bioeconomy Science Institute (BSI)
Biofuels are unlikely to become the primary solution for New Zealand road transport, but they could have an important role in sectors where electrification is much more difficult. New Zealand currently uses very little biofuel in transport and has limited land available for traditional biofuel crops. Previous work exploring a material domestic biofuels industry found that wood could provide the most viable large-scale feedstock, particularly for aviation and marine fuels. Demand is also increasing internationally as airlines, shipping companies and exporters look for ways to reduce emissions across global supply chains.
Potential opportunities include:
- Sustainable aviation fuel.
- Renewable marine fuels.
- Greater use of domestic forestry resources.
- Reduced dependence on imported fossil fuels.
- New regional industries and supply chains.
Key insight: Biofuels may have a smaller role in road transport, but could become increasingly important in aviation and shipping where other alternatives are harder to deploy.
The future of transport energy is unlikely to be built around one technology.
Battery electric vehicles are becoming viable in more applications, hydrogen offers advantages where range, payload and uptime are critical, dual-fuel systems provide an interim pathway away from diesel, and biofuels could help address some of the hardest-to-electrify transport sectors.
For businesses, the priority is not to predict which technology will ultimately win. It is to understand how energy is used within the operation, identify the options available and develop a pathway that allows the business to adapt as technology, infrastructure and economics evolve.
To watch these speaker presentations, see the video at the top of this page.
This piece is part of an ongoing Priority One series focused on energy. We want to engage as many businesses as possible in our energy conversations – find out more here, and sign up to our newsletter featuring expert insights, opportunities and free events here.