Our Board

Mark Gilbert retired as Managing Director of BMW Group New Zealand in 2012. He has nearly 30 years automotive industry experience, working in both New Zealand and Asia for international companies Volvo and BMW.

Mark has also been an Executive Member of the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development (now the Sustainable Business Council), and President of NZ Motor Industry Association Inc. Mark is presently an Independent Director of Auckland Transport, Evnex, Mobli, the Battery Industry Group and Partmaster Limited, and is Chair of the government-appointed Clean Car Sector Leadership Group.

Duncan joined Drive Electric as a founding board member in 2012. He is Director of Greenhouse Capital, an advisory firm that specialises in growing low-carbon and sustainable technologies.

Duncan has more than two decades of experience in the technology investment and environmental sectors. He has founded, grown and sold award-winning businesses and assisted the delivery of >$1bn of public and private infrastructure. Duncan is recognised as one of New Zealand’s experts in clean technologies and green economic growth. He is co-founder and director of ESG software firm CS-VUE, and former CEO of green economic growth business group, Pure Advantage.

Annette joined the Drive Electric Board in December of 2014. Annette is a director from Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors. She specialises in international business and deals with a number of listed and unlisted corporates and high net worth individuals assisting with all aspects of taxation, compliance, M&A and immigration.

Hideaki is a Founding Director of Drive Electric Incorporated.
Hideaki Fukutake is CEO of STILL and is a Director at Benesse Holdings Inc.

STILL is an organisation established by Hideaki with the goal of changing New Zealand for the better. Further, Hideaki is Chairman of the Fukutake Foundation which operates Art-site Naoshima and holds world-renowned Setouchi International Art festivals.

Matthew is Chief Investment Officer at STILL where he manages significant investment portfolios and provides governance at STILL’s operating businesses. Matthew is a CFA charterholder. Matthew has previous experience in the automotive sector, and currently also acts as Director for Kings Plant Barn, Consult Recruitment and the Shape Group, all part of STILL’s initiatives to change New Zealand enduringly for the better.

Dean Sheed is General Manager of Audi New Zealand and has a commitment to bring more of Audi’s global breakthrough technologies and innovations to New Zealand. The brand has a strong commitment to electric mobility through its “e-tron” sub brand covering a range of standard and performance vehicles. Dean also currently serves on the board of the New Zealand German Business Association.

Dean began his automotive career with a twelve-year tenure at Ford Motor Company in New Zealand, followed by a thirteen-year tenure as the General Manager of Volkswagen New Zealand. Under his leadership, the Volkswagen New Zealand brand presence grew tenfold in vehicle sales and won several awards for excellence in vehicle sales, technology and design. He also developed a strong network of new dealerships and service centres nationwide.

Eric Pellicer is the General Manager of Business Development at Powerco. He actively supports Powerco’s goal to help NZ businesses on their decarbonisation journeys through prudent investments in private energy infrastructure and future technologies. This includes areas such as renewable generation, energy storage & transmission, hydrogen, low emission transport, and decarbonising industrial processes. Eric is passionate about e-mobility and has led many initiatives aimed at mainstreaming electric transport in NZ.

Tim leads the Emerging Markets and Innovation team at Meridian Energy and is responsible for the development of Meridian’s electric vehicle and solar propositions. His work in this role has spanned many aspects of e-mobility and facilitated strong industry relationships. Through this work, he has developed a deep understanding of the drivers and constraints for electric vehicle adoption across many markets.

Tim assisted Meridian in the development of a turn-key charging solution to support business fleet transition and public charging. These solutions have been recognised for the value they offer to the market and potential to solve existing barriers to EV adoption in NZ by being awarded co-funding from EECA’s Low Emission Transport Fund.

For residential customers Tim’s team has delivered electric vehicle specific pricing plans; trialled multiple smart chargers in homes; created safe charging guidelines and managed partnerships with EV ride-share initiatives.

Kirsten Corson is Co-Founder and Director of Zilch, which delivers EV Mobility as a Service, Carbn Asset Management, a green fleet consulting business, and Sustainable Fleet Finance, a green asset finance company.  Across all three entities Kirsten is focused on supporting businesses to accelerate the transition to optimised electric mobility without increasing costs,  and delivering smart technology to create change.  Kirsten has a depth of knowledge and experience with fleets, EVs, charging infrastructure and change management.

Kirsten joined the Drive Electric board in 2021 and holds other board positions at Totara Hospice.

Dennis has 45 years’ experience in leasing, commercial asset financing and banking, with the last 15 years at FleetPartners. He was Managing Director of FleetPartners NZ for 8 years, followed by 3 years as Managing Director in Australia, before taking on his current role as Director of the Pan Tasman Fleet.

Dennis is responsible for new business sales and Corporate and SME Relationship Management for FleetPartners NZ, overseeing key Corporate customer relationships that span NZ and Australia.

Dennis has held several senior executive roles including Managing Director of Hertz Fleetlease NZ, General Manager of Capital Equipment Finance NZ, Regional Manager at Countrywide Bank and General Manager of NZI Bank. He is extremely well informed and positioned to contribute meaningful insights on electric fleet implementation, finance and the wider transport industry.