Electric car share service for Wellington already has a waiting list

JOHN NICHOLSON/FAIRFAX NZ

Finn Lawrence and right Erik Zydervelt co-founders of Mevo car sharing, which will start operating on Monday.

Up to 90 cars taken will be off Wellington's roads with  new electric car share service launching on Monday.

The first three hybrid pool car will be located in a row of special parks on Clyde Quay, where they will charge when not in use, with people able to book the use of the vehicles through their smartphones..

Mevo co-founder Erik Zydervelt said the car share already had a waitlist for sign ups.

A large part of the electricity which charges the new Mevo car share vehicles will come directly from Wellington's winds.

"We put out cars in threes around the city, to start with you will pick up and return to the same locations. As we grow we will work with the City Council so we can move to a pick-up drop-off system and eventually move to a free-floating system, so you can leave them anywhere," he said.

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There is also a fourth charging point at the location for other privately-owned electric vehicles.

Zydervelt said Mevo's ​fleet of Audi A3 e-trons would fully charge within two hours.

"We estimate about 90 percent of trips can be done on pure electric, and a great deal of Wellington's energy comes from Meridian's West Wind project. It's a fair thing to say that a lot of the energy going into the cars comes from Wellington's wind."

In the next 12 months Zydervelt planned to expand to 50 cars across 64 charging stations, as well as a new car share in Auckland.

In order to launch the project, Zydervelt said the Wellington City Council had to create a policy framework.

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"Projects like Mevo are setting the blueprints in place for a future of sustainable, accessible transportation that can utilise existing infrastructure in smarter ways. "

Zydervelt said most vehicles were in use only four percent of the time, with business fleets idle during out-of-work hours and private vehicles unused during the week, and by signing up to Mevo the expense attached to these vehicles would be saved.

International studies found that for every share car, up to 30 other vehicles were be taken out of service as businesses and residents found they were no longer required.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said Council was prioritising 100 car parks across the city for electric vehicle chargers and car sharing.

"We want to encourage more sustainable transport and further establish our leadership in this area."

How does it work?

Sign up to either a business or personal account.

There are three packages, a pay-as-you-go and two monthly contracts, which customers can purchase to match their usage.

Users check the availability of cars on their device, book 30y minutes ahead to ensure availability, and then unlock and start the car from their phones on arrival.

Cars are cleaned and their hybrid engines refuelled by Mevo.

 - Stuff

Source: Electric car share service for Wellington already has a waiting list