Back in mid-January a press release caught our eye. The subject was a milestone for WM New Zealand’s fleet of electric trucks, which had clocked up 3 million kilometres of waste collection work to the end of 2025.

A quick read of the background info revealed an EV journey that began a decade ago. The story involves innovative local engineering, the use of EVs in multiple roles, and a strategy to reduce fuel costs and emissions as part of WM’s sustainability target to become carbon-neutral by 2050.

I hoped WM would be happy to share some details of its electric truck experiences. More than happy it turned out, and the company put me in touch with Jitesh Singh and Ash Davenport who spent a morning explaining what the company has learned and where it’s headed in the EV space.