Grimsby-area eco-microgeneration specialist MyEnergi is on a charge - with the pedal firmly to the metal.
Welcoming a very special four-wheeled guest to the state-of-the-art Google-esque headquarters, plans for global domination have this week been unveiled alongside its record-breaking sponsorship deal with an Extreme E race team.
The Odyssey 2021 car arrived at Pioneer Park, Stallingborough as it was revealed more than 170,000 smart tech devices have now been sold by the firm, with more than 300 employees making it happen across the world - and recruitment isn’t stopping there.
Read more: East Yorkshire ship specialist's major contribution to Extreme E race series
All products - including the flagship Zappi electric vehicle charger - have been made in the area, first at Binbrook and now in Grimsby. A former retail unit is acting as a temporary manufacturing plant after it outgrew the initial plans for the newbuild it now occupies - leading to a second phase addition in early development.
Jordan Brompton, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Myenergi, said: “We are at over 300 employees now when you take into account the subsidiaries, we have manufactured and shipped 170,000 devices out of Grimsby.
“We have new products in the pipeline, while demand is still huge for existing products - the Zappi is going up and up and it remains the most sustainable way to charge a car.
“We are really doing our bit for the electric revolution - we want to be the best, and what is the point otherwise? There is real opportunity to do it, and if we’re going to electrify then we have to do it sustainably. There is no point striking up coal-fired power stations to power electric vehicles. We need more renewables on the grid, more domestic energy production, and we’re at the forefront of that mission. It is exciting, but we’re absolute proof that it can be done.”
Australia has recently joined European arms of the business, with market leading positions in Ireland, close domestically, and further plans. It specialises in being clever with the use of generated electricity on a micro scale, be it heating or car-charging - ensuring the must sustainable and cost-effective outcome for the end-user.
“We’re serious about world domination,” she had told Grimbarians’ Under the Moon event at Grimsby Minster in another appearance last week. “There is an electric revolution, we’ve seen governments talk about how we get to Net Zero, and we believe in it as long as it is done sustainably. You have got to decarbonise homes and decarbonise transport.
“We all fell for diesel being the best thing ever, now government is saying we have got to switch to electricity. I can see why people might doubt what is being said, but we know it can be clean, it can be cheap and genuinely better for the planet.
“We are going to be at the forefront of this transition and to fulfil our mission we have got to be everywhere. If it is just focussed on the UK we will have lovely business, but it won’t reverse the needle with climate change.”
The Xite Energy team backing aims to help underline that vision, with the Myenergi logo emblazoned across an “absolute beast” that is “pushing the boundaries and showing what can be done” with electric vehicles.
The rare motor - the car's peak 400kw (550bhp) output is capable of firing the 1780-kilogram, 2.3-metre wide e-SUV from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, at gradients of up to 130 per cent - is being given a tour of the borough to build up marketing collateral in Myenergi's home town, ahead of the final race of the series, taking in the Jurassic Coastline in Dorset. It follows Saudi Arabia, Greenland, Sardinia and Senegal in a Covid-restricted seaon.
Legacy projects are also undertaken at the venues alongside profile-raising of climate change in evidence. Witnessing the melting ice caps in Greenland, the Myenergi team swapped out diesel generators for solar, battery storage infrastructure and electric charging points as part of the contribution.
“It was a natural fit for us,” Mrs Brompton said, having first come across it when supplying chargers to driver Oliver Bennett. “When we heard the story about what they were doing, the race to zero and a completely carbon neutral rally, it really struck a chord," she said.
“It is 10 times more than what our previous highest marketing spend was, but it just felt right, and what has been done is amazing. It is so much more exciting than I ever imagined when you look at the places they have been.”
A further boost was the fact that one half of the driving team is female, with Spaniard Christine Gz sharing the wheel with Bennett - just like at Myenergi, with Mrs Brompton having launched alongside Lee Sutton five years ago.
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