NZ success story Evnex will partner market leader, including with Hilux BEV spruik.

COMMITMENT to electric driving has seen Toyota here deliver additional battery-pure models recently - and now it has signed a home charging partner.

Toyota and Lexus customers are to be offered home charging from Christchurch based NZ-owned Evnex, the arrangement backed by an extended five-year charger warranty.

Toyota New Zealand decided on the partnership having reviewed the EV charging market.

A brand long lambasted by EV purists for being slow to introduce electric and electrified cars has begun to get more serious with them here. The Palmerston North-based market leader has this year brought in the Hilux BEV, bZ4X in Touring and sports utility formats and is now rolling out the RAV4, it’s best-selling product last year, with plug-in hybrid technology.

“Electrification isn't just about building great vehicles. It's about making ownership simple, practical and confidence-inspiring,” TNZ chief executive Tatsuya Ishikawa said in supplied comment.

“As we expand our electrified vehicle lineup, we're equally focused on the ecosystem that supports our customers long after they drive away.”

Ishikawa said Evnex's nationwide installer network, New Zealand manufacturing, sustainability credentials, and future technology roadmap were a strong fit for Toyota.

While the national public charging network continues to expand, most EV and plug-in hybrid owners still charge at home or at work, so home charging was a key consideration for buyers.

Evnex chargers are compatible with most single- and three-phase homes and workplaces without requiring switchboard or meter upgrades.

Evnex founder and chief executive Ed Harvey said partnering with New Zealand's biggest automotive brand was a significant milestone for his company, which since launching in 2013 has become Australasia's largest manufacturer of home EV chargers, with more than 16,000 units installed here and across the Tasman.

Customers could have confidence their home EV charger was built for New Zealand conditions and supported by Evnex’s Christchurch based team seven days a week.

The first application of the roll-out will tie to a TNZ initiative to create interest in Hilux BEV.

What the make is describing as its ‘Hilux BEV Driver Series' places the new model with up to 15 unnamed fleet decision-makers nationally starting next month, the intent being to providing hands-on experience with the vehicle in everyday commercial operations and to prove how vehicle and charging solutions can work together to support fleet electrification.