Episode 178: Liz Allan and Gill Nowell – Global Women in EV Day and the Future of Inclusive Electric Mobility

Liz Allan [00:00:01]:
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to Electric Evolution. Today I have Gill Nowell with me, who’s a wonderful person, and I don’t know how she does all of that. She’s just such a happy, joyous woman, and we’ve had her on the podcast before. Jill, thank you for joining me.

Gill Nowell [00:00:21]:
Oh, you’re welcome. I’m delighted to be back and chatting with you, Liz. Thank you so much.

Liz Allan [00:00:25]:
I’ll introduce you properly as well, because you are the founder of. Hosted by Gill and also founder of the Global Women in EV Day, and that’s what we’re going to be talking about today. So. So, yeah, thank you. It’s just, it’s lovely, lovely to talk to you and I’m sure. Well, I’ve already seen you once this week anyway, haven’t I?

Gill Nowell [00:00:49]:
We caught up, didn’t we, at the Powered Up conference?

Liz Allan [00:00:52]:
We did, we did, absolutely. So let’s, let’s start. Start off a little bit. I know you’ve been on the podcast before, but let’s just talk a little bit about some of the things that you’ve been involved in and why Global Women in EV Day is so important to you.

Gill Nowell [00:01:12]:
Yeah, yeah, sure. Thanks, Liz. So. I’ve been working in and around e-mobility since 2012. Spent a number of years working on a series of EV grid integration projects. Co-founding director of Electric Vehicle Association England as well. I’ve held a few different roles over the years, and I suppose I’ve sometimes been the only woman in the room, and I’ve also had personal experiences that have been a little tricky at times. Bit tricky at times, as well, as a woman working in this industry.

Gill Nowell [00:01:49]:
I was on a run fairly recently.

Liz Allan [00:01:53]:
You do run a lot, don’t you?

Gill Nowell [00:01:57]:
And that’s when I have my ideas, you know, and sometimes I’ve forgotten them by the time I get home. But this one really, really stayed with me, and I thought, actually, is there a day dedicated to women in EV in our calendar? I got home, checked quickly, and no, there isn’t. Of course, we observe International Women’s Day on the 8th of March every year. We have days related to EV in general, but nothing for women in EV. I’ve taken action. And really, Global Women in EV Day is a new international movement. It’s about celebrating, elevating and accelerating the women driving the transition to electric mobility. For me, it’s about visibility, momentum, action, recognising the amazing women who are already driving the transition, and ensuring the next generation of women sees that they belong here too.

Gill Nowell [00:02:58]:
And I really appreciate that. It’s not just about one day; it’s every day of the year. But Global Women in EV Day is. It’s a global moment to make women’s leadership visible. It’s to lock in commitments from companies and from individuals and non-profit organisations who are coming on board, and they are making a pledge. And I hope that it’s by virtue of those pledges, whether it’s setting up a mentoring scheme, whether it’s really making sure that that panel, that event, will be truly diverse and balanced. You know, it’s about making women’s voices heard and helping them feel comfortable and have the opportunities to progress as well.

Liz Allan [00:03:47]:
I love this. You’re just the passion, you know, for those of you who are not watching this, just looking at the passion, well, actually, you can hear it in your voice. It’s just, it’s just there, isn’t it? It’s, it’s so important what you’re, what you’re trying to do. I think the, the idea of, you know, empowerment and inclusive inclusivity. Everybody who knows me knows that’s what I champion. I champion, you know, inclusivity, and I know that that’s what you’re doing as well. It’s fantastic.

Gill Nowell [00:04:19]:
Yeah, thanks, Liz. And I really feel, you know, I think that the E mobility industry is still relatively new, it’s still quite nascent, which gives us a great opportunity because we have that opportunity now to build equity into the very heart of it. And we know that when that happens, we see better business outcomes. Women are still underrepresented in leadership and technical roles. In energy, there’s a gender pay gap of 15-20%, and I think that’s likely to translate to E mobility. We’re seeing that women are promoted less often. I’m hearing anecdotally from other women that they are being overlooked for two training opportunities in their organisations, or they’re working in quite toxic environments. And I.

Gill Nowell [00:05:21]:
Gosh, it was last year in the run-up to International Women’s Day, I heard on the radio that according to the World Economic Forum, we are on track to reach global gender parity by 2158, and that is five generations from now.

Liz Allan [00:05:37]:
Oh, my God. Yeah.

Gill Nowell [00:05:39]:
You know, the whole picture, you know, again, going back to the fact that E Mobility, still quite a new industry, we can do something about that now. In the UK, at least 49% of driving licenses are held by women. So half the market is female, but nowhere near half the power is. And we, and you know, Global Women in EV Day is about starting to shift that to make a difference.

Liz Allan [00:06:10]:
Because I was going to say, as you said, it isn’t just one day, you know, it’s about kind of making sure that, you know, 20. What did you say? 2150? What?

Gill Nowell [00:06:22]:
2158.

Liz Allan [00:06:24]:
I mean, that’s bonkers, isn’t it? That’s just bonkers. You know, and, and I know that there are certain pushes in, in the wrong direction at the moment from there, you know, various parts of the world. But how do you know? How do we make this different? You know what, I’m going to start off because I know you’ve got a story here about 10 February, and I think that’s part of what, how we make this different, isn’t it? And why you, why you set up on that date.

Gill Nowell [00:06:59]:
Yes, thank you very much, Liz. Whenever I share this story, it gives me goosebumps because I chose a date with meaning that was really important to the campaign. It’s 10 February, as 10 February 1883 is the birth date of an American electrical engineer, Edith Clark. And her work was so pioneering; it literally laid the foundations for today’s electricity networks. Born on 10 February 1883, Edith Clark. So this is why Global Women at EV Day is on 10 February. And it was just really important to have a date with meaning, you know, and with sincerity. So.

Gill Nowell [00:07:48]:
And harking back to my early work in ev, which is, is. It was all about EV grid integration, you know, it kind of feels, I feel very much aligned with that as well, because without those robust electricity networks, essentially, there is, you know, there is no transition to E mobility because they literally underpin that whole movement.

Liz Allan [00:08:13]:
Because electric vehicles were around. Were they around? I might be wrong about this, but electric vehicles were kind of around before combustion engine vehicles, weren’t they?

Gill Nowell [00:08:25]:
It was around the turn of the century, early 1900s. And yeah, I think, I think the first electric car was sort of around the same time or even before the first petrol car. Yes, but. And you know, and actually the marketing back then was targeted at women, I believe, because they were so much easier to drive, so much easier to, you know, plug in to charge rather than having to crank something to get it going. But at that time, petrol won the race, but no longer.

Liz Allan [00:09:03]:
Yeah, but we’re doing haha. And I’m gonna love saying this. We’re gonna, we’re doing full circle and going right back, aren’t we? You know, circle. If you don’t know the name of one of my businesses, you won’t get that. But, but, but just getting, you know, getting to that stage and actually getting people to recognise that come on, it was here first. But, so it doesn’t, you know, don’t go ruling it out because we’ve talked with, we’ve heard things about misinformation and all sorts of things going on, going on at the moment. And does. Do you feel that has an impact on the misinformation, for example, and we’ll talk about the day itself in a minute.

Liz Allan [00:09:47]:
But does misinformation have the same impact on women as on men? And sorry, sorry, blokes who are listening, because I, I’m, I might just be a one off, and I don’t know whether you are. But I will not just take the word of one piece, one news article. I’ll try to drill down to whatever the answers are for. You know, if somebody puts something out and it just sounds a bit suspect, what, what do you, what do you think? Does it affect us more, or is it the same? Or you tell me your thoughts.

Gill Nowell [00:10:25]:
I feel like, and I don’t know the data behind this and I may be totally wrong, but I feel like when I sort of dip into to the comments associated with a, you know, a media article that is spouting misinformation about Evie, I think probably the majority of those comments come from men, you know, so I think it’s hard to say really, Liz? Honestly. Yeah, so, yeah, difficult. And I think it’s also important to say, especially when we’re, you know, for me talking about global women in EV Day, that our male allies are, they are absolutely welcome and essential that they come along with us on this journey as well. So, yeah, really, really keen to kind of talk about our amazing male allies as well because without their support, you know, we’re not as strong together, are we?

Liz Allan [00:11:25]:
Exactly, exactly. And I was going to say, just going back to what I was mentioning about kind of that misinformation, one thing I’d say about cars, they’re quite divisive, aren’t they, the conversations that you can have, you know, and actually, if you think about the Women Drive Electric Facebook page, there’s a reason why it’s there and there’s a reason why it’s a growing community. Because, you know, like you said about comments on various posts, that’s why you don’t want to be shouted down, do you? Or made to look like an idiot just because you might have said something that somebody doesn’t like. It happens everywhere, doesn’t it?

Gill Nowell [00:12:04]:
Yeah, it does. And I think being faced with a little bit of misogyny here and there is personally for me as a woman, I have to be careful not just to accept it, because it’s just something that’s happened throughout my life, you know, and so. But it’s not good enough just to accept it as the norm, is it? I don’t think anymore.

Liz Allan [00:12:27]:
And actually it never was, but definitely not anymore. You know, I mean, I, I’m, I come from a Yorkshire family, you know, as you probably can tell originally. And yeah, it’s funny, when I moved down south, that even, even the north-south divide, that there is a thing I’m not trying to say for everywhere, but maybe it was just my family, you know, kind of. There was a, there was a bit of misogyny in there, you know, and, and it’s hard. It’s hard. And we’ve got to break out of that because we’re in 2026, for goodness sake. Let’s just do that. So let’s talk, and let’s talk about the day, though, the day itself, where.

Liz Allan [00:13:06]:
So, where is Global Women in EV Day being held?

Gill Nowell [00:13:11]:
Okay, so it’s a global campaign and a global movement, and we’re having a UK launch event.

Liz Allan [00:13:22]:
I meant the launch event. Not just the day.

Gill Nowell [00:13:28]:
We have partners in South Africa and Australia. So it’s not just UK- and Europe-based. But I’m so grateful to be able to host a launch event in the UK. So it’s taking place on the afternoon of 10 February at Octopus Electroverse headquarters in London. And, and I can barely believe it, Liz, but it sold out. It was sold out with a month to go, which just blows my mind. And I’m, I’m so grateful for all this, but I think it just speaks to the, to the, to the appetite and the need for this kind of initiative, which is fantastic. Hopefully, most of the founding partners will be there.

Gill Nowell [00:14:15]:
When I started talking to prospective founding partners about joining Global Women in EV Day. As a founding partner. You know, as you do, you go through a few slides and some of the points had an asterisk, but by them like launch event, subject to, launch video, asterisk, subject to. And I didn’t even include the website because I thought there was no way. So I’m over the moon that we are holding a launch event. I’m also very excited that our launch video is coming together, and we’ll be able to hear all our founding partners’ voices, including yours, Liz. Thank you so much.

Liz Allan [00:15:04]:
I was going to say that, but I thought I won’t say it just yet. And it’s me and Michelle.

Gill Nowell [00:15:10]:
Thank you. Thank you to Michelle for coming on board as Chargewise cx. As a founding partner to Global Women in EV Day, I’ll let you tell everybody what your partner level is, but I’ve just seen the teaser launch video, and it’s. Yeah, I can’t wait to share it with everybody.

Liz Allan [00:15:32]:
I think I’ll have to let everyone know what we’re actually called.

Gill Nowell [00:15:37]:
But.

Liz Allan [00:15:37]:
And for those of you who don’t know about ChargeWise, basically we set ChargeWise up myself and Michelle, who has been working with me tirelessly for the last four and a half, nearly five years, bless her. We’re going to be one of your founding partners, which is amazing. Yes, there’s a short video there. But I suppose, from our perspective, this is about championing neurodivergence as well, as both Michele and I are neurodivergent. And like I said to you before, you know, kind of inclusivity is really important to me. And it’s not just about women as a whole.

Liz Allan [00:16:23]:
It’s about the different types, you know, of issues women have, including your neurodivergence, you know, you. Okay.

Gill Nowell [00:16:33]:
Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Liz Allan [00:16:34]:
All right. Okay. Sorry. Sorry, Tom. So, yes, there are a number of areas that you’re kind of. Well, a number of areas that we’re sort of. We’ve pledged to support this, haven’t we?

Gill Nowell [00:16:49]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is amazing, Liz. And thank you so much. I hope the launch is. We’re going to have some amazing speakers there. We’re going to have some really, I hope, really enlightening discussions around industry voices. How can a woman build resilience in her work environment? There’s significant flux and change in the e-mobility industry at the moment.

Gill Nowell [00:17:18]:
So let’s hear from some people who have kind of been through that and how they came through it, and we’ll hear about sort of mentoring and navigating that change in the industry and we’ll hear from women who are really powering the transition, actually, and some, I would say, future female leaders as well, which is really, really exciting. One of the things I really hope is that, as the campaign grows year on year, we can use it as a platform to encourage the next generation into E mobility, whether that’s women with. With a STEM background or not. Because there are. Oh, my goodness. I may. I started writing down a few weeks ago all the different roles in e-mobility, and it’s pretty much endless. Yeah, I.

Gill Nowell [00:18:15]:
I’m not technical, but it’s the. It takes all sorts of skills, all sorts of women, men, everybody, to make the working world of E mobility go round, doesn’t it?

Liz Allan [00:18:30]:
Absolutely. And I mean, it’s so, you know, it’s not just. Isn’t more, it’s no. No longer about people getting under the bonnet of a car, you know, as in the automotive side. And so because E mobility is so important and there is, as you say, so many moving parts and aspects to it, you know, and then we’ve got the emerging text side of things with AI, and, you know, there are. And I always, I’ve said this to other people before, there are going to be, you know, jobs that we don’t even know about, that the future generations will be. We’re taking up space, won’t we? So it’s. It’s really exciting, you know, it really is.

Liz Allan [00:19:10]:
And it’s not just about one sex or the other or whatever. It’s about everybody coming together and being part of this transition, you know, and like I say, not. Not excluding anybody, just giving everybody the opportunity to be involved.

Gill Nowell [00:19:28]:
I think when teams are more diverse, when there are more women involved, then ultimately it leads to better business outcomes because we bring a fresh perspective, we bring a different perspective. And if we go back to the fact that 49% of all driving licenses in the UK are held by women, you know, we’re half of that sort of product audience, so.

Liz Allan [00:19:51]:
Exactly.

Gill Nowell [00:19:52]:
We need to be involved from the design process, from ideation, whatever that product, whatever that innovation may be, because we bring, you know, that really, really important perspective. And I think as well, when we’re, as a woman in the workplace, you know, making sure that the job profiles are, you know, are tailored to be as accessible and encouraging to everybody as possible. That’s essential. We’ll hear some interesting insights from someone involved in recruitment at the launch event, which I think will be fascinating. We need to ensure policies that encourage women to stay in the workplace. Returning from maternity leave, for example, I had an excellent experience both times. You know, both companies that I worked for at the time just fully embraced the fact that I was a nursing mother, and so, you know, made facilities available to kind of ease that transition for me. So, honestly, it meant the world.

Gill Nowell [00:21:12]:
It absolutely meant the world.

Liz Allan [00:21:15]:
And I’d said to you, before, didn’t I? I experienced the opposite after I had my son. So, you know, on a. Know that things still are still happening that, you know, you know, where women don’t. I was gonna say, in a way, it felt like I was being written. Written off because I was becoming a, you know, a mum. Do you know what I mean? We need to stop that. And things have moved on. I know they have, but in certain, in certain aspects, you know, we just need to get people thinking slightly different.

Liz Allan [00:21:47]:
Don’t, don’t write us off when we’re a parent, because like you say, of course we want to, you know, be with. That, be with the children, but you can, you know, you can share. You can share work and it doesn’t mean just because you’re a parent, either male or female, that, you know, that you should be written off whatsoever. And, and that. That in itself, because that’s the. The other thing, isn’t it? It’s similar to the impact of.

Liz Allan [00:22:13]:
Of a kind of negativity toward people who become parents. So we need. We’ve got to change that rhetoric, you know, we’ve got to move it, move it forward. I know that’s what you’re doing to ensure all of this is presented positively. In a positive way.

Gill Nowell [00:22:30]:
Yes, absolutely, absolutely. I will also note that anyone who can join us on 10th February will hear a very exciting announcement. So watch this space. And I’m sorry, but yes, suffice to say, there will be lots more to come.

Liz Allan [00:22:51]:
So, are you able to tell us, besides Chargewise, who? Some of the other founders. Could you share a bit more?

Gill Nowell [00:23:00]:
Yeah, I can. I can. And forgive me if I. If I don’t remember everybody right here, right now, but I’m just. I’ll try to go through the Alphabet with this as well. We have Amplify EV, AutoTrader, and Electric Connect. I’m going to go off the Alphabet now. We have Electric Vehicles, UK Electric Vehicle Association, England.

Gill Nowell [00:23:26]:
We have. Oh, gosh, maybe I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Liz. Let me just bring. Because I really want to remember everybody.

Liz Allan [00:23:35]:
I put you on. I put you on the spot now. Sorry, that’s really mean of me, isn’t it?

Gill Nowell [00:23:39]:
No, no, no, it’s fine. So, at Zemo Partnership, we have Electraconnect, which I may have mentioned; we have Sinewave; we have Victoria Hutton, because we. We welcome individuals as well. Jess Shanahan from Jet Social, we have ZapMap. And we have Easy EVCI Global. We have the Ev Cafe. We have Fast Charge.

Gill Nowell [00:24:11]:
Tom Riley’s fantastic.

Liz Allan [00:24:13]:
Oh, he’s amazing.

Gill Nowell [00:24:16]:
Yeah, he really is. We have Izu and Green Cab; both are based in South Africa. We have Greensfleet. They choke. I love Green. Fleet’s partner level is Emerald, so they came on board as an emerald partner, which I think just suits. We have Sunbathe Social and EV Fire Pro, an Australian startup. We have Octopus Electroverse, they also have.

Liz Allan [00:24:47]:
Yeah, that’s very exciting.

Gill Nowell [00:24:49]:
That’s very exciting. Of course, Charge. Chargewise, that we’ve all. We’ve already talked about. We have the EV Musings podcast coming on.

Liz Allan [00:24:58]:
Oh, of course, yeah. Young Gary.

Gill Nowell [00:25:01]:
Yeah. Do you know what? We. And there are. There are many more loads.

Liz Allan [00:25:06]:
That’s amazing. I love it.

Gill Nowell [00:25:09]:
Yeah. Really, really, really blown away. Really pleased, Liz.

Liz Allan [00:25:12]:
What a start to a fantastic campaign. My goodness me. So, go on. Besides. Besides that. Besides who you’ve just said, who’s on board? What does success look like for you? Because, I mean, just those names you’ve just said are fantastic.

Gill Nowell [00:25:29]:
Yeah, I think if we go kind of. Maybe if we take a crystal ball look, five years from now, I’d see that Global Women in Ev Day has been a really great enabler to equity and diversity in the industry, you know, and women kind of having their voices heard, taking their rightful place at the table is just the norm.

Liz Allan [00:25:53]:
Love it, honestly. So what? Just out of curiosity, what? As noted, we’ve just discussed young Gary from EV Musings. Hope you don’t mind me saying, Gary, that you’re young still, but hey, whatever. But you know what, what kind of feedback are you getting from the lovely chaps out there?

Gill Nowell [00:26:13]:
Really positive, really, really supportive. You know, they’ve tended to, you know, people have been coming to, to us, to me, to get involved, and I think it’s just wonderful. And I’m going to be so excited to see the final launch video, actually, Liz, because we will hear all those voices in that video and without exception, you know, women and men alike, they are, everybody is sincere. You know, we have, we’ll, we’ll hear from so many people across so many organisations and individuals, you know, about the pledges that they’re making. And for me, this is where, you know, we can start to see some traction. So it’s exciting.

Liz Allan [00:27:00]:
And I was going to say Michelle, my co-founder, is coming all the way down from Northumberland, from Amber in Northumberland, to. I haven’t seen Michelle in a while. We work remotely all the time. So, she’s just booked her train, and it’s going to be lovely. I’m really looking forward to the event. It’ll be absolutely fantastic. So, so what if we, you know, I’ve just said to you about moving, moving forward. Do you feel that there’s a potential for, you know, because you mentioned earlier on about women being missed for, you know, kind of training opportunities and things like that.

Liz Allan [00:27:39]:
How do you think that Global Women in EV Day kind of works, you know, kind of works towards it being, you know, helping that move forwards, do you think?

Gill Nowell [00:27:50]:
Yeah, I think through the pledges, you know, and, and I, and again, I really appreciate that. It’s one thing to make a pledge, but it’s another to carry them through and follow through on those pledges. So wouldn’t it be nice if the partners were to give us an update, whether it’s this time next year or through the course of the year, actually, how’s it going? What changes are you making? How is that mentoring scheme coming along? So I think on that side of things, that’s how we start to see, see change being implemented.

Liz Allan [00:28:28]:
I think that’s, that’s a really, really good idea. It’s kind of like a little mini audit in a way, isn’t it? You know, just making, making sure that these things are happening. I mean, so, so yeah. Do you, do you see that there might be other potential events during the year, you know, besides your little mini audit? Do you think there might be other things where you can have case studies coming through and that kind of stuff?

Gill Nowell [00:28:53]:
Yeah, I think certainly there’ll be, I think, hopefully events, certainly lots of content being shared across the year as well, just to help really keep that momentum going and to keep inspiring, you know, people to get involved and to, you know, to carry the message through as well. I will just say I had this crazy idea, so tell me what you think.

Liz Allan [00:29:14]:
So go for it.

Gill Nowell [00:29:17]:
Right. Okay. Can you. Can we see this?

Liz Allan [00:29:21]:
Oh, yes, I can see. Is that you’re hosted by? Is that. Oh, is that? No, hang on. Is that a Global Women in EV Day badge? See?

Gill Nowell [00:29:30]:
Because, you know, I like my pin badges.

Liz Allan [00:29:32]:
I know you do.

Gill Nowell [00:29:34]:
So.

Liz Allan [00:29:35]:
But it’s good.

Gill Nowell [00:29:37]:
Yeah. So I’m thinking about ordering some to give out at the launch event. And then I’m thinking: would it be a good idea to really encourage people to pass them on? So let’s see how far we can get those pin badges across. Oh, so with the pin badge.

Liz Allan [00:29:55]:
Oh, my God.

Gill Nowell [00:29:57]:
From. From anywhere in the world. That you may be.

Liz Allan [00:30:00]:
Or.

Gill Nowell [00:30:00]:
Or you may have passed it on to somebody who’s travelling somewhere and can pass it on. So. So I think that would be quite a nice thing to d,o just to really.

Liz Allan [00:30:08]:
Oh, my God, that’s an amazing comms piece, isn’t it? That. That kind of goes back to remembering. And I know it’s not good for the environment now, but do you remember they used to? When you’d set off Chinese lanterns or something like that and see what. Oh, you know, the balloons and things and see where they actually land, you know, to, you know, and I know you wouldn’t want to do that now, but that. What you’ve just said, what a fabulous idea. Oh, my God.

Gill Nowell [00:30:32]:
So I think. Yeah, I think we’ll probably do that. So that’ll be fun as well. And it just gets. Gives people a sort of a bit of a tangible way to get involved, doesn’t it?

Liz Allan [00:30:41]:
Oh, gosh, yeah. Oh, now you’ve got me thinking: is there a way to put a little tiny QR code on there so people can just go to a link, you know? But yeah, it could be like a little handover and kind of mini pledges and all sorts. Oh, my goodness me. I love that because I was gonna. I was gonna say, you know, if we kind of look at the wider. The wider picture for the EV sector, you know, and I said there’s going to be roles that will come into the sector that we’ve not even thought of.

Gill Nowell [00:31:14]:
Yeah.

Liz Allan [00:31:15]:
But you don’t need an automotive background to work in the sector, do you? It’s not, you know, so you’re gonna have newbies coming in and people who can move from one to another. One job to it, you know, kind of one sector to another. How do you see that kind of moving forward?

Gill Nowell [00:31:34]:
Yeah, I think going back to when I was kind of writing a whole list of roles in E Mobility, you know, obviously marketing, procurement, legal, there is just communications. If you’re a good communicator, we need you. If you can bring people together, you know, bring people together together for projects and so on. So there’s a whole project management aspect as well, including event management and PR. There is. There are tons. And then there’s the whole sort of technical side as well, which is, you know, immense. So I think almost any skill, any type of individual can get involved in E-mobility. And most.

Gill Nowell [00:32:24]:
Not everybody, but. But most people have a view on whether it’s a car or whether it’s an electric HGV that’s gliding along the motorway next to you. And, you know, it’s. Yeah, it’s. Everybody has a view. And so. And new technology as well. You know, we’ve heard a lot of.

Gill Nowell [00:32:43]:
There was quite a lot of talk at the event we attended this week about wireless charging. Really? This is the future of other people. Well, yes, let’s hope so. But maybe a few things like standards and so on have to fall into place before that can happen. And these things take time. So I think the innovation side of the, you know, data and AI innovation, there’s always something new to uncover. There’s always something new to. To kind of try out, and we probably need people as well.

Gill Nowell [00:33:21]:
So then you bring in kind of the consumer behaviour side aspect of things, and you know, that’s a whole different thing as well, isn’t it? So I think there’s, you know, for me working in E Mobility, it’s just an incredibly exciting space and I think for women, the world’s our oyster, really.

Liz Allan [00:33:42]:
I am going to ask you a question because it suddenly dawned on me that you still have children at school. My son is at uni, so it’s slightly different. But you’ve got. Have you got? Are they both at secondary? I can’t. I can’t remember. They weren’t at primary one at secondary.

Gill Nowell [00:33:59]:
They are, yeah. They are both now at secondary school.

Liz Allan [00:34:01]:
Yes. So I suppose it’s those. I’m just thinking about the formative years, you know, and because I personally think that the younger generation sees men and women very differently, maybe to kind of my generation, maybe yours, I don’t know. But I was going to say, really, how. How can we encourage schools to participate in events like Global Women in EV Day? Because, you know, so would you. Can you go to your school, and everyone watching and listening go to theirs, and actually talk about it and explain why it’s so important?

Gill Nowell [00:34:44]:
I think that’s a really. That’s a brilliant idea, Liz. And, you know, I know that there are, you know, the schools hold careers fairs, for example, so, you know, kind of integrating, you know, global women in EV Day and just kind of helping all those amazing students understand that, you know, there’s opportunity here.

Liz Allan [00:35:04]:
So, yeah, kidney magic. Yeah, it’d be. It’d be wonderful. I remember Lorna McAteer from National Grid talking about when I think she took an EV to a school and, you know, not talking about the sector as such, but actually Talking about the EVs themselves, you know, and the kids were kind of climbing in and out of the cars and thinking how wonderful they were, you know, and like I say, it’s those formative years, isn’t it? It’s getting them to see what this is. You know, look under the. Look under the bonnet. I’m not calling it a hood because I’m not American, you know, but. But, yeah, look, look under the bonnet.

Liz Allan [00:35:36]:
Have a look at where the charging cable is, and you know, talk about energy. And there are just so many things that. That can be brought into that. That school isn’t there.

Gill Nowell [00:35:47]:
You know, when my. When my children were both at primary school, I took my Nissan Leaf to school. And did a talk with the lovely James Mc Kimi many, many years ago, but. And my Nissan Leaf was at the playground, and, you know, we talked to them, then we went out and showed them the car, and we played the game. Can you spot the. The exhaust pipe?

Liz Allan [00:36:14]:
You know, did you.

Gill Nowell [00:36:17]:
And is this car on? I’m not sure whether it was at the time, actually. But anyway, basically, you know, helping them to see that it’s. It’s silent, it’s quiet, isn’t it? And I did get a small number of parents in the days and weeks afterwards coming up to me and saying, so and so came home from school, they want an electric car now, thanks to you. So I hope that was a good thing.

Liz Allan [00:36:44]:
Oh, my goodness. Oh, I mean, like I say, I just think. I think trying to get. Get kids involved, and, you know, go into schools and just talk about it. I just think e mobility in general, you know, it’s. It’s a. It’s a really good thing, isn’t it, to actually be talking, talking to the younger generation who are, you know, going to be the ones. It’s going to be a very different world, isn’t it? You know, with kind of e mobility.

Liz Allan [00:37:14]:
And especially it’s like my son, who he’s still not passed his driving test, but actually when he. As. And when. As in, when he decides to, he can drive an electric and he doesn’t have to go back and drive a manual if he doesn’t want. Do you know what I mean? And actually, your kids are probably never going to drive a manual, are they?

Gill Nowell [00:37:35]:
No, no, no. My son is. He will be, gosh, 17 in this December, so.

Liz Allan [00:37:42]:
Oh, maybe he will then. Then it’s possible. Possibly.

Gill Nowell [00:37:45]:
But, you know, it’s a decision to make, really.

Liz Allan [00:37:48]:
Yeah.

Gill Nowell [00:37:50]:
He may want to. To learn to drive a manual, just to kind of cover all the bases. But we will see. But I will be encouraging him. I’ll be teaching him in my car, which is electric, of course.

Liz Allan [00:38:03]:
Love it. So I’m just going to ask you one final question then. So, has Global Women in EV Day? Has the initiative itself changed how you see your role as a leader in the sector? Because you are. You’re kind of charging ahead, darling.

Gill Nowell [00:38:25]:
Gosh, what a question. I’m just. I’m genuinely so grateful for all the support that Global Women in EV Day is receiving. Is bringing to all of us, really. You know, it’s a campaign for everybody. It’s a campaign for all the amazing women in ev. It’s a campaign for the women who are coming through, whether that’s schools, universities, apprenticeships, you know, it’s for them as well. And also, it’s really to try to help.

Gill Nowell [00:39:00]:
I hope the women who have told me their stories and shared their stories with me that have not been so positive oftentimes, but let’s try and do something about that. And I think that’s. Global Women in EV Day is about shining a light on the amazing women driving this transition. And it’s about encouraging and inspiring the next generation of women into EV on the 10th.

Liz Allan [00:39:28]:
So I’m going to. Absolutely. And I will put the links in the show notes as well. But I want to just say to you in a personal point of view, because I know that you won a champion award at Green Fleet Awards. Last year, didn’t you? An EV champion. Just to say thank you for championing. I can’t even speak today. Champion.

Liz Allan [00:39:52]:
Championing this. This initiative because it’s amazing. And you know, having you behind it, everybody who knows how genuine you actually are, you know, and it’s. You’re a force. You’re a force for good, which is brilliant. So thank you.

Gill Nowell [00:40:14]:
Thank you so much, Liz. That’s so kind. Thank you.

Liz Allan [00:40:18]:
And everybody, seriously, check out Global Women in EV Day. It’s on LinkedIn. You’ll see all the. You know. Yes, I know. You can’t. You can’t make it now because there’s a waiting list. Actually, no, you could sign up to the waiting list still, but just check it out and have a look.

Liz Allan [00:40:35]:
Wait until all the videos come out, and you’ll actually see. But just try and. Yeah, even if you’re putting your own pledge together, I think it’s a fantastic idea. So, yeah, know, just start thinking about it, but thank you to Gill, just such a wonderful person. I’ve loved having you on here again, and yeah, good luck with the day, and I look forward to seeing you there.

Gill Nowell [00:40:58]:
Thank you so much, Liz. See you soon.

Liz Allan [00:41:00]:
See you later. So thanks to everybody for watching and listening. Check it out. Put. I’ll put the links in the show notes and I’ll see you next time. Bye. Bye.