Mercury is planning a multi-million-dollar expansion of its subscription service for electric vehicles.
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The Auckland-based power supplier is adding 50 electric vehicles (EVs) a month, or a total of about 400 vehicles, to its Mercury Drive fleet at a cost of $6 million, following a successful two-year trial.
The company said the cars could cover between 90 and 100 kilometres on a single charge, which was adequate for an average commute.
"This will open more doors for more Kiwis to more easily get behind the wheel of an EV," Mercury chief marketing officer Julia Jack said.
The expansion would bring Mercury's EV fleet to 450, or about 2 percent of New Zealand's total fleet of about 23,500 hybrid and EVs once complete, Jack said.
"We've spent the last two years watching, testing and learning, and now we're ready to deliver on a bigger scale," she said.
Mercury would focus primarily on late-model Nissan LEAFs for initial shipments but hoped to expand the range of EV models in the future.
It expected the service would see more than 500 people experience an EV in the first year.
"We know upfront costs can be a major barrier for a lot of people when it comes to making the switch," Jack said.
Having an EV subscription service that stacks up economically removes these challenges."