He used to make fun of electric vehicles, now Shane Hobson sells them.

It was the petrol bill from his wife's 15-minute commute to the city from Whatawhata that spun the wheel for him.

"She was commuting into Hamilton every day, spending $60 a week on petrol and I thought, she's a good contender for an electric car."

The 51-year-old searched local sale yards for a solution, but of the three cars he did find none of them were just right.

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"[There was] a place I wouldn't buy a car from, another was at a good petrol car dealer, but he knew nothing about the car … and the third dealer, to his credit, knew a lot about the car, but if you didn't like that colour he had tough luck - it was white or nothing.

"I thought, I can do better than this, and a year later here I am."

KELLY HODEL/STUFF Hamilton EV Dealer Principal Shane Hobson looks to the future after opening the first electric vehicle dealership in Hamilton.

Rather than buying one car, he and his business partner Nicholas Down bought 40, setting up the city's first electric car dealership, Hamilton EV, on the corner of Kent and Hall streets in Frankton.

The store sports Nissan Leafs ranging from $12,000 to $40,000 - in a variety of colours.

"The most common customers are families who have two petrol cars in their household and at least one person is doing a reasonable commute," Hobson said.

"They get rid of one petrol car and replace it with an electric car so then the bulk of the family's driving is in the electric, and on the times where you need to tow a boat or drive to Wellington you take the petrol car."

As the cost of fuel continues to rise more people are interested in alternative travel, Hobson said.

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF The charging port of a Nissan Leaf, Hamilton EV's most popular electric vehicle.

"You definitely get people in here because they're trying to make the world a better place for sure ... [but] some customers don't care about the environment."

Some of his customers were commuting from Rotorua to Te Awamutu, spending $250 a week on fuel and, with fresh signage on the shopfront boasting $1/20km in an electric vehicle as opposed to 5km in a petrol car, he reckons it's a no brainer.

"Saving the environment isn't driving their decision - they're doing it because it makes good financial sense."

Only nine purely electric vehicles were sold in New Zealand in 2013 according to Motor Industry Association statistics.

More than 1400 have been sold this year as of September.

To Hobson it's like reusable shopping bags at supermarkets - people just need a mindset change.

"New Zealanders are wedded to the idea of owning a car that is capable of taking them to Wellington, but they only drive to Wellington once every six months.

"We need to get used to owning a car that can do 90 per cent of your travel needs and hiring a car for that one trip to Wellington … because to buy that car that is capable of driving to Wellington without stopping is a $70,000 Tesla."

In 2016, the government invested in infrastructure for electric vehicles and support schemes to reach its target of a 64,000-strong fleet by 2021.

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF The guts of a Nissan Leaf, Hamilton EV's most popular electric vehicle.

To achieve this, light and heavy electric vehicles are exempt from road user charges until they make up two per cent of the country's fleet, along with other initiatives in the package to remove barriers that prevent people from choosing electric.

The city of the future, that's where Hobson is looking after dropping out of his old career and starting fresh in a new world he used to mock.

"It's pretty nice knowing that I'm doing something that's improving the world."