Foodstuffs North Island chief executive Chris Quin said it was the first time a commercial electric vehicle fleet of the size proposed by the grocery chain had been trialled in New Zealand.
The funding would go towards the implementation of the 28 zero-emission electric delivery vans at New World and Pak’N Save stores across the North and South Island.
It is not known if the vehicles will be operating in Otago or Southland.
A Foodstuffs spokeswoman told the Otago Daily Times the project was still in the planning stages and the allocation of vehicles had yet to be decided.
Mr Quin said interest from store owners had been positive.
"It fits in perfectly with Foodstuffs’ drive to reduce environmental impacts and support brand New Zealand. Electric vehicles offer the potential to both reduce the businesses’ dependent on imported fuels while at the same time reducing road-based emissions by 100%."
The Nissan e-NV 200 delivery vans would be imported from Europe where they were manufactured. Once charged, they were capable of travelling up to 150km at a time without generating either noise or emissions, he said.
Earlier, Energy and Resources Minister Judith Collins announced 15 projects had been conditionally approved to receive about $3.5million from the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund.
The fund was established as part of a package to help stimulate electric vehicle uptake and meet the target of 64,000 electric vehicles on New Zealand roads by 2021. The first funding round was heavily oversubscribed with 80 applications.
The funding would provide up to 50% funding for projects demonstrating and showcasing low-emission vehicle technologies in high profile and visible ways, helping normalise the technology, she said.
Other projects which might be seen in Otago and Southland include:Waste Management NZ establishing two electric conversion facilities; The Warehouse Group installing charging stations at 20 Warehouse stores; PowerNet Ltd, encouraging EV uptake in Southland business fleets.
