WELLINGTON, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Some of New Zealand's biggest companies on Friday threw their support behind a government drive to electrify the country's vehicle fleet with a pledge to boost the total number of electric vehicles by 75 percent.
The initiative, driven jointly by national carrier Air New Zealand and electricity generator Mercury, represented a total corporate sector commitment of more than 1,450 vehicles over the next three years.
Along with the significantly lower running costs of electricity, this would remove almost 3 million kg of carbon emissions annually, they said in a joint statement.
The business leaders, representing more than 30 organizations, each committed to make at least 30 percent of their company fleets plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) by 2019 at a meeting in Auckland attended by Transport Minister Simon Bridges.
Air New Zealand is due to transition more than 75 percent of its light vehicle ground fleet to electric by the end of this year.
Chief executive officer Christopher Luxon said the commitment was a landmark event in addressing New Zealand transport emissions and demonstrating genuine sustainability.
"We wanted to get the business community together to lead the way on EVs and create the critical mass of demand necessary to really launch the market in New Zealand," Luxon said in the statement.
Mercury introduced plug-in vehicles to its fleet more than five years ago and would have more than 70 percent plug-in electric by 2018, said chief executive Fraser Whineray.
The business case for organizations and the logic of electric vehicles in New Zealand was clear, given the country's renewable electricity supply, Whineray said in the statement.
"This is New Zealand's greatest green-growth opportunity. It's very hard to argue with home-grown fuel at the equivalent of 30 cents per liter, no tailpipe emissions, reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels and helping preserve our hard-earned export dollars," he said.
Earlier this year, the government set a goal of doubling the number of EVs on New Zealand roads each year to eventually hit 64,000 by 2021.
