Seymour Whyte is steadily expanding its electric vehicle fleet, using practical experience on construction projects to determine where EVs fit and what infrastructure is needed to support them.
The civil contractor has 33 EVs in its fleet, with Plant Manager Luke Besant expecting that number to exceed 40 by the end of 2026. The rollout has focused on matching vehicles to suitable applications, providing convenient charging and building employee confidence.
“The whole approach has been very strategic,” Besant says. “The feedback on our EVs has been incredibly positive. The more we introduce into the fleet, the more interest and demand we see from our people.”
For fleet managers, the experience highlights how vehicle selection, site power supply and operating data need to work together to support electrification.
Starting with a suitable duty cycle
Seymour Whyte began with three electric LDV utes, using them to understand vehicle performance, charging requirements and the impact on daily operations.
Installing chargers alongside the vehicles helped make charging part of the working routine.
“For EVs to be practical in our business, charging needs to be available at our project offices,” Besant says. “Site utes are a strong use case because they return to base regularly and can charge during the working day.”
That return-to-base pattern provides an opportunity to charge while vehicles are parked. However, the availability of electricity can limit how that opportunity is used.
Sustainability Lead Stephen Mount says several projects operate at, or close to, the limits of their available grid capacity. At one project, chargers could only operate overnight to avoid overloading the site’s electrical connection.
“Our approach isn’t about replacing everything with EVs,” Mount says. “It’s about using them where they make practical and commercial sense, while delivering a genuine environmental benefit. The conditions are different on every project, so there is no single solution.”
Seymour Whyte has drawn on Origin’s electrical engineering expertise to assess available power and develop charging arrangements suited to individual projects.
Moving chargers with the projects
Temporary construction sites create another challenge: charging infrastructure needs a useful life beyond a single project.
Seymour Whyte purchases chargers as company assets, allowing them to be relocated as projects finish and new sites become established.
Chargers at the Palm Beach to Tugun project supported operations for almost three years before moving to a nearby project at Coomera, where they are expected to operate for another two and a half years.
With project lifecycles ranging from 18 months to four years, this approach spreads the use of charging equipment across successive projects. It also reduces the need to purchase new chargers for every location.
The practical requirement is to consider both the current site’s needs and how the equipment could be redeployed.
Bringing charging costs into view
As the EV fleet has grown, understanding its energy use has become a priority.
Vehicles were charging through a mix of home power points, public chargers and site infrastructure, making it difficult to obtain a consistent picture of consumption, charging duration and cost.
For Michelle Nation, who leads Safety, Environment and Quality at Seymour Whyte, that visibility is essential.
“Facts and data are what we need. Having visibility over our electricity use influences the next steps we take in reducing our carbon footprint,” Nation says.
Seymour Whyte is consolidating charging through Origin’s OneCharge fleet charging service to track electricity consumption and cost per vehicle across its chargers and participating public charging networks.
The service also supports home charging and consolidates charging costs onto a fleet invoice, reducing the need for drivers to pay individually and submit expense claims.
For the fleet team, the value will come from using that information to assess operating costs and refine vehicle allocation.
“Once we have the charging information over time, we can confidently say what the benefit is. Then either narrow the use case to something specific or expand the program,” Mount says.
Building the case for expansion
Seymour Whyte’s experience shows that introducing EVs involves decisions across fleet, sustainability, project operations and electrical infrastructure.
“Data, cost information and facts are really important. This transition is more complex than I anticipated, you’re trying to move a large organisation of 800-plus people. You can only advocate for these things with facts,” Mount says.
As the fleet grows beyond its initial applications, charging data will help the business assess where EVs deliver value, identify opportunities to use cheaper off-peak electricity and support future investment decisions.
The next stage of Seymour Whyte’s rollout will be shaped by evidence from the vehicles and projects already operating.
