Mercury fleet 70% electrified – a year early

Mercury has transitioned all possible vehicles in its fleet to electric, one year ahead of target.

Its corporate fleet now has over 70% fully electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles which represents 80 out of 114 vehicles.

The target was set at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting (ASM) in 2014.

Chief executive Fraser Whineray told the November 7 ASM the company has changed every vehicle that can be practically transitioned to electric models currently available.

“We saw that using home-grown electricity to fuel transport was a stunning opportunity for New Zealand and New Zealanders, and it also made total sense for us as a business,” he says.

“We’ve made our company fleet as electric as it can be right now. It’s powered at a fraction of the cost of fossil fuels and is clearly better for the environment.”

In the three years since Mercury announced its target EVs have moved from being a ‘vision of the future’ to entering the mainstream.

There is support across all major political parties for transport electrification and the current coalition government is targeting its vehicle fleet to become emissions-free by 2025-26.

Mercury worked with other New Zealand organisations to encourage widespread uptake of EVs, including a landmark commitment by over 30 New Zealand companies to transition at least 30% of their company vehicles to electric by 2019.