Element Fleet Management Corp. has appointed a senior leadership team to lead the company’s electric vehicle (EV) strategy. Avninder Buttar is appointed to Vice President, Strategy focused on EVs, and Jason Kazmar to Director, Electric Vehicle & Sustainability Strategy.
Buttar is a dynamic sustainability champion with a proven track record of leading successful, transformative change. His engineering background and deep experience in data analytics, marketing and business development will help drive Element’s Electric Vehicle & Sustainability Strategy. He has helped several leading organizations increase market share through strategic initiatives ranging from transformation to new product launches during his time with Accenture Strategy, and prior to that for Hudson’s Bay Company. He most recently served as Vice President, Global Strategic Initiatives with CSA Group.
Kazmar has been at the forefront of utility/energy strategy including EV program implementation for over 10 years. He has held several senior roles as a sustainable energy strategist with leading organizations including Sargent & Lundy, Ernst & Young, Exelon and most recently with CLEAResult, the largest provider of energy solutions in North America.
"Avninder and Jason bring tremendous experience in the EV sector. Their strong engineering backgrounds and results-driven attitudes will be invaluable assets as we continue to build our global EV strategy," said Chris Gittens, Executive Vice President, Strategic Relationships. "Their proven track records and industry leadership in sustainable energy solutions will help accelerate our shift towards EV fleets for our clients."
As the fleet solutions market leader everywhere it operates, Element is strategically well-positioned to support its clients and lead its industry through the gradual electrification of automotive fleets over the next decade, and it is prudently investing to maintain and improve its position.
Element is focusing on strategic partnerships to help streamline and accelerate the EV adoption process for its clients around the globe. Element’s Custom Fleet subsidiary, Australia and New Zealand’s leading fleet management and Electric Vehicle solutions company, recently announced a major agreement with Australia’s leading energy retailer Origin Energy Ltd. to offer a one-stop solution for Electric Vehicle (EV) fleet procurement, management and charging for Origin’s business customers. Origin 360 EV Fleet will see Custom Fleet provide Origin’s business customers with fully managed electric fleet vehicles and accompanying services. These will be bundled with Origin’s charging infrastructure, carbon offsets and energy solutions.
Element’s experience in New Zealand positions it as an emerging leader in helping clients transition to EV – approximately 2 percent of the more than 29,000 vehicles it manages are EVs (BEV or PHEV). Element manages another 500+ EVs outside of New Zealand.
Element’s position as the leading provider of sustainable, outsourced fleet solutions is grounded in both data-driven strategies and insights to lower clients’ total cost of fleet operations, and a consistent, superior client experience that eliminates fleet-related administrative burden. Element and Custom Fleet are also both part of the Element-Arval Global Alliance - the longest standing strategic alliance in the fleet management industry, managing more than three million vehicles in over 50 countries around the world.