Mercury and Lime fire up e-mobility

Lime will offer free e-bike and e-scooter rides up to $5 to more than 300,000 Kiwis this week to encourage them to join the electric revolution.

The initiative, to celebrate Lime partnering with electricity provider Mercury, is aimed at getting more people moving around their cities sustainably.

Mercury customers in cities where Lime operates (Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Christchurch, Selwyn District, Dunedin and Tauranga) can redeem up to three free rides of up to $5 until November 8.

Lime operates Jump e-bikes and e-scooters in Auckland after acquiring the global business from Uber.

Meanwhile, Lime customers are being offered up to 20 free $5 rides by joining Mercury before December 16.

Mercury also becomes Lime’s national electricity partner, helping to power Lime charging warehouses across the country.

Lime ANZ general manager Wendy Rattray says Mercury and Lime share a vision for more sustainable and affordable modes of transport.

“As we transition to more sustainable modes of transport in New Zealand, we want our riders to benefit from doing the same. It’s all part of our effort to be carbon negative as a company by 2025 and to reach net zero by 2030.”

Mercury chief marketing officer Julia Jack wants to see more New Zealanders supported in going electric to help the country’s decarbonisation ambitions.

“New Zealand’s largely renewable electricity is the solution. Not only is it much cheaper than fossil fuels for any distance travelled, you remove tail-pipe emissions and noise if you’re swapping out from an old car,” she says.

“And with e-scooters and e-bikes you also add the fun factor. The challenge now is helping people to join the electric revolution, and that’s what we’re focused on together with Lime.”

New Zealand’s mostly fossil fuel-powered road transport accounts for about 40%  of gross carbon dioxide emissions. Congestion causes up to 150 lost hours annually on average for New Zealand commuters, according to global transport consultancy INRIX.

“E-bikes and e-scooters are absolute game changers,” Jack says.

The new partnership follows Lime’s announcement it will be carbon negative by 2025 and is the first micro-mobility company to commit to setting a science-based target to be net zero by 2030.