Talking Net Zero Talking Net Zero

During the episode, Sara, Emily and Merisa discuss the supply chain, the unknowns of embedded carbon, and how this affects SMEs transitioning to a more conscious, ESG-orientated supply chain.

In this week's episode, Sara talks to David Balensiefen - the CEO and Founder of gridX. 

The pioneer of a business which is, at its heart, focused on the future, David works to build infrastructure for the growth of electrical vehicle usage across fleets and individual businesses - from the vehicles themselves to the number of charge points located in and around business buildings and structures.  

During the episode, David tells Sara about his past experience, how he built gridX, and what inspired his drive to change our attitude to energy management - so that people who want to embrace electric vehicles, can. 

Describing himself as “an electrical mechanical engineer who was saved from a career in banking by the financial crisis,” Steven Meersman is a co-founder of Zenobē .




He chats with Sara Sloman about how Zenobē is providing transport solutions to the energy grid and vice-versa, 




In other words, batteries in bus depots that can store solar energy generated on site, then top up buses during the day, or sell the surplus back to the electricity company at times of peak demand.




Not only does it save upgrades to the grid for running electric fleets, but it saves operators money too, typically from £60,000-£600,000 a year.




They mull over whether the government’s existing system of ZEBRA electric bus grants is handled in the best way: Surprise, they’re not, creating a big ‘pause’ across the whole industry. He offers a simple solution to free up the log-jam the current funding models create.




He also explains how, as a managed service, Zenobē takes away risk from the customer, acting as a new class of service provider, sitting between the vehicle operator and banks (which aren’t able to fund battery assets).




We also learn some interesting trivia: What time do depot managers wake up?




Finally, Steven explains why Zenobē is buying all the surplus EV batteries across Europe it can find, as it digs deep into using their second life ahead of a tsunami wave of second life batteries becoming available – which must not be recycled.




He also hints at how this will be demonstrated at ITT Hub, where Zenobē is the charging partner for demonstrator EVs on site during 11-12 May 2022.

This week’s episode introduces our host to Lorna McAtear - an award-winning fleet manager from National Grid who has worked across and spearheaded the transition to EV for a range of vehicles and vehicle-led industries.  




Lorna’s daily role is fleet management, taking the concepts, ideas, and innovation from all corners of the industry and transforming into groundwork and action. Her role sees her look after vehicles as they are moved to electric, covering a wide selection of commercial vehicles and cars for the National Grid organisation. 




In this episode, she talks to host Sara about her day job, her motivations, and the way that she collaborates with other organisations and industries to create change - all while spearheading diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 




Look out for the Talent Hub at this year’s ITT Hub, which is being led by Lorna and her team. 

This week’s episode introduces Vyntelligence's Ancel Boucher, who virtually met with Sara during the infamous Storm Eunice to discuss his role, the work of Vyntelligence, and how to collaborate in our mission to meet net zero.

Vyntelligence is, for Ancel, a valuable opportunity that allows him to become part of a wider project to support the rollout of support videos - helping users on the ground share their issues, challenges, and solutions relating to electric chargers and vehicle use. Is the fear of electrical challenges holding UK consumers back from embracing EV 100%? Is a lack of chargers creating problems that impact the broader rollout of EV across a wider user base? In this podcast, Ancel and Sara answer these important questions.

In this week's Talking Net Zero podcast, host Sara talks to Jon Burdekin of JB Fleet Consulting - all about helping people get on board with and embrace the future of electric vehicles.

Building an entire consultancy business on the question of "how do I go electric?", Jon works with individuals and companies across different levels to ensure that electric vehicle knowledge permeates every corner of the commercial vehicle sector.

In this podcast, Sara and Jon discuss Jon's route into creating his own consultancy, share some top tips on embracing electric, and talk about the future of the business.