Carbon Neutral Crusader

“My passion is the environmental side as well as the technology side of the motor industry and I try to combine them wherever I can to be New Zealand’s most environmentally friendly workshop,” Glenn says. 

And this entrepreneur has found it’s good for business, with customers seeking a repair shop that is not only customer focused but environmentally aware as well. 

Amongst his sustainable practices: For each oil change, Glenn donates a tree to Trees for Survival, the funds from recycled batteries go to the same cause, and to top it off he uses eco-friendly oil packs and low energy lighting. 

Now three years into his quest 5000 trees have been planted and every week the holy grail of certified carbon neutrality is edging closer for Grimmer Motors. 

But there is a lot more to Glenn than just suburban garage owner with a passion for the environment. 

Country mouse, town mouse 

Glenn is not only a qualified mechanic but also has a degree in information technology. 

He’s been at the cutting edge of industry technology over the past few decades having developed one of the early diagnostic scan tools, and then worked on a telematics project for Z Energy aimed at rewarding motorists for driving sustainably. 

His career started to evolve as he moved from a small Taranaki country garage at the age of 19 to a busy repair business in Newmarket in Auckland, and later to university to gain a degree. 

“I had the contrast of a country garage to a garage in Newmarket in Auckland. It was a bit of a shock and back then electronics were coming more and more into cars, and I wanted to specialise,” Glenn says. 

Glenn did his masters trade qualification as a mechanic and masters trade as an auto electrician but wanted to take it a bit further. He went on to study and complete a New Zealand Certificate in Engineering (NZCE) in electronics and computer technology. 

Still having a thirst for knowledge, he followed this up with a degree in information technology whilst funding his studies as a contract mechanic around Auckland. 

A requirement for the degree involved completing a project of his choosing which bought about the development of his highly successful scan tool, designed to read dashboard fault codes. 

“Scan tools were really expensive at the time, and I developed this really basic system that covered everything and worked using an optical sensor that decoded the flashing. 

“Now it would be seen as rudimentary, but back in the day it was cutting edge.” 

Driver Rewards 

Glenn patented his invention and sold units throughout the country and internationally. 

Next in line was a telematics project for Z Energy. 

Telematics is a method of monitoring cars, trucks and equipment and other assets by using GPS technology and on-board diagnostics. 

“My concept was a loyalty scheme with companies to do with driving environmentally-friendly and I developed a smart phone app to monitor driver habits,” Glen says. 

Acceleration, breaking and cornering were measured through the app using rpm through the alternator ripple. 

“So, if you plugged into the cigarette lighter you could tell by the alternator rpm if it was a petrol or a diesel.” 

“I called it ‘Driver Rewards’ and had it registered, the concept was we were looking to develop a platform that would monitor driving and give a score,” Glenn says. 

 It proved to be so accurate Glenn licenced the technology and still owns it. 

“I would love to go back to something like that because my passion is to be involved in that environment.” 

Eventually the corporate offices of Z Energy took over the running of the rewards scheme and Glenn was keen to look for a new challenge. 

He turned full circle and bought suburban repair workshop Grimmer motors in Hamilton. 

He had dreamed of creating the most environmentally sustainable garage in the country for a while and now was the chance to give it a go.  

“I had no idea just how much time it would take up, I thought I was buying something I could manage and for a few years it ran really well, but with the second round of Covid the labour shortage hit us pretty hard,” he says. 

“I’m still recovering and still training people so I can get back to developing ideas.” 

He’s already made significant headway to getting the business environmentally sustainable. 

Trees, Trees, Trees 

Glenn takes the proceeds from the scrapping of car batteries, around $12.50 on average, and puts $6.00 towards Trees for Survival – which works with schools and local communities to plant native trees. 

Funds from scrap metal, every electric or hybrid service, every tyre headed for recycling means another tree. 

All up after three years his efforts have resulted in more than 5000 trees being planted. 

“We have changed all the lighting to LEDs, we go for the Penrite enviro-pack oils and we try to get rid of as much of the waste as we can in an environmental way.” 

Not much can be done with the oil bladder but Glenn points out the environmental impact is a lot less. 

Of the business’s seven courtesy cars, four are Prius, and the others are going to be replaced with hybrids too. 

And it hasn’t cost a lot. 

Business carries on the same way as before Glenn says, the only difference is there is more awareness on waste. 

“I even have an environmental washer cleaner for parts that has a biodegradable cleaner in it.” 

With the changes he’s made, Glenn’s noticed loyalty building in his customer base as word get around and is acutely aware long term the younger generation will be looking to a more environmentally-friendly repair shop. 

Hydrogen Project 

Out the back of the business in a storage shed Glenn also has a side project that sounds like the Manhattan Project. 

He’s having a crack at making hydrogen and converting a single cylinder engine to run on it. 

Using a carbon cleaning machine to make the hydrogen was easy enough but getting the engine to run was a challenge. 

“Getting the engine running was a lot harder than I thought and a lot of the videos you see online are not real,” he says. 

It did run after Glenn built a cranking sensor out of 3D printed parts but further work is needed to increase the power output. 

“My dream was to see how efficient I could make it run and then work on ways of making the splitting of water more efficient, there are laws of physics you are not supposed be able to break but I figure someone has got to try,” Glenn says. 

For now, the hydrogen project is on hold while he trains new staff and gets Grimmer Motors running smoothly again and then there is the lofty goal of becoming carbon neutral to conquer. 

“I love innovation and I love technology and I love the environmental side so I think it doesn’t really matter what I am doing as long as I can be creative.”