Auckland car sharing now electric

An electric car has been added to an Auckland car sharing service.

Mercury provided the EV – a Nissan Leaf, and Cityhop the ‘by-the-hour’ car sharing platform.

Together they’re offering a transport alternative that can ultimately help address Auckland’s transport challenges.

“It’s easy to see that our city has too many cars. We’re crawling along traffic-choked roads every day,” Cityhop development manager Ben Carter says.

New Zealand’s first cars-by-the-hour service shows people and businesses that it is possible to live one car less, he says.

“People can now have access to a car when they need it, meaning they drive less, save money and reduce congestion.

“International research shows every car share vehicle takes nine to 13 privately owned cars off the road.”

Adding an EV to Cityhop’s car sharing platform is an Auckland first.

It brings together two parts of the solution to the problem of too much traffic polluting the environment. EVs reduce pollution and noise, and car sharing reduces vehicle numbers.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for our 2500 drivers to drive an electric car, while exploring how car sharing can potentially reduce corporate fleets,” Carter says.

Mercury has had EVs in its fleet since 2013 and has led the charge among other corporates. In a joint initiative with Air New Zealand it has gained buy-in from business leaders representing 30 organisations to transition at least 30% of their company vehicle fleets to plug-in EVs by 2019.

Cityhop’s EV will allow more drivers to find out for themselves how EVs live up to their reputation as a smooth, quiet, and quick-off-the-mark ride, Mercury executive Matthew Olde says.

Caption: Mercury executive Matthew Olde, left, and Cityhop’s Ben Carter with the car sharing service’s Nissan Leaf.