Strong start for ‘subscription’ EVs
An electric vehicle ‘‘subscription’’ service launched by Mercury Energy has proved a hit, with most of the cars on offer snapped up within hours. The service allows people to drive an electric vehicle without the commitment of actually buying one. Customers pay a monthly fee and can simply hand the car back when they are done. Chief marketing officer Julia Jack said there was a ‘‘new generation of drivers out there who see car ownership as optional’’. The description of providing cars ‘‘as a service’’ mimics the language of the software industry, where buying cloud software on subscription has become the predominant sales model. Mercury is charging $469 a month for a second-hand firstgeneration Nissan Leaf, falling to $399 a month if customers agree to a minimum six-month term. Those fees include comprehensive insurance, maintenance, unlimited kilometres, roadside assistance and free delivery and pick-up by a ‘‘concierge’’ at the beginning and end of each ‘‘subscription’’. For comparison, the cheapest advertised price for renting a Toyota Corolla in Auckland for the month of September through a traditional rental arrangement is currently $602 without insurance, according to a Stuff search. Customers will need to pay to charge the EVs with electricity, which usually costs the equivalent of about 30 cents for a litre of fuel. Mercury has teamed up with rental company Snap Rentals to launch the service, called Mercury Drive. If customers decided the car they had picked ‘‘wasn’t for them’’, they could swap it out for another model or stop their subscription. Other vehicles available from Mercury Drive include the Tesla Model S, priced at $2299 a month, or $2099 on a three-month term, and the ‘‘Gen 4’’ Leaf. Mercury also plans to stock the Volkswagen e-golf and the Renault Zoe. Initially, the service will only be available in Auckland and product head Oz Jabur said it had only 12 cars to start with. The cheaper Leafs and the Telsa S cars were ‘‘out of stock’’ within hours of the launch of the service, but Jack said it would have access to more similar vehicles in the short term. ‘‘Levels of interest will determine the approach to medium term supply and to the types of models we will look at as we are following a customer-led approach,’’ she said. Snap Rentals director Jamie Bennett said demand had been ‘‘bonkers’’ with all but a few of the cars now taken. ‘‘In the same way we don’t buy music and movies as often with the option to rent or stream online, we see vehicle usage and ownership heading down the same path,’’ he said. Mercury stated on its website that the service would be available in other cities ‘‘soon’’.