Richard Laxton is the Vic Branch Technical Advisor. He is an IT professional and lifetime car enthusiast with a passion for electrification of ground transport. An EV owner for the last 5 years, he recently shifted to EV-related consulting full time. This has given him massive exposure to the extended EV industry, unique data, and opportunities to help businesses and individuals who are looking to decarbonise their transport.

A dedicated road tripper, having completed his first EV lap of Australia at the end of 2023, and a single-day EV driving record of over 1800km, he has a unique perspective around public charging infrastructure.

In his spare time, Richard enjoys going on “charger crawls” to check out and test all the infrastructure in an area.

Kathleen Davies is the Vic Branch Chairperson. She is an electric vehicle early adopter and is driving her third EV (since 2012). For over six years, Kath has been active in AEVA working with other volunteers to deliver public events that educate, support and promote electric drive.

Kath is passionate about real and practical climate action. She and her family have retrofitted their 1974-built house from 2-star to 7-star energy efficient home. She is involved with Sustainable House Day, Off Grid Living Festival, and other local climate action groups.

Climate action has also led Kath to legal action in the High Court. She is one of the two winning plaintiffs in the landmark case that scrapped Victoria’s electric vehicle tax. Known as the “world’s worst EV policy” this unconstitutional tax was a barrier to EV adoption.

In her day job, Kathleen is an independent engineering consultant, working across multiple industries to help safeguard process design. This gives her a unique perspective on the power of business and industry to deliver more sustainability for less cost. Kath has a strong background in lean to green principles, and is passionate about regenerative and circular processes for positive impact at work as well as at home.