Why swap one?
Small changes. Practical benefits.
Swapping a trip you would otherwise make in a petrol or diesel-fuelled vehicle for a lower-carbon option can be an easy, practical way to do something – save money, get more active and help tackle climate change.
You don’t have to change everything. Start with one trip and see what works for you.
Save money
A petrol or diesel-fuelled vehicle costs more than the fuel in the tank. There are also tyres, servicing, maintenance, depreciation, registration, insurance – and sometimes parking – to factor in.
For a sense of the full cost (owning and running), Inland Revenue’s latest estimate¹ for a petrol vehicle is $1.20 per kilometre for the first 14,000 km travelled in an income year. That can add up quickly:
- Nelson → Richmond | Around 28 km return = about $34
- Richmond → Motueka | Around 69 km return = about $83
- Nelson → Motueka | Around 95 km return = about $114
There’s a bigger picture too. Households across the Nelson region collectively spend around $240,000 a day at the fuel pump.² Switching from a medium-sized petrol SUV to an EV could save an estimated $12,500 over the vehicle’s lifetime, while switching from a diesel ute to an electric ute could save around $14,800.²
Get more active
Walking, cycling, eBikes and eScooters can build more movement into your day without needing to find extra time for exercise.
And if the thought of arriving at work hot and bothered puts you off active transport, an eBike or eScooter can make the trip gentler – potentially meaning less need for a shower, depending, of course, on how much your friends and colleagues can tolerate!
You can also make active travel part of your routine without going all-in. Start with one trip and build from there.
Help tackle climate change
Every time we choose a low-carbon transport option instead of a petrol or diesel-fuelled vehicle, we reduce the carbon emissions associated with that trip.
In Year One, Swap One participants avoided an estimated 25 tonnes of carbon emissions. That’s roughly equivalent to the annual household emissions associated with 21 people in Nelson, based on Stats NZ’s latest 2025 figure of 1.2 tonnes of household CO₂-e per person.³
While that might seem small, it’s a start – and it’s about thinking bigger about what we can achieve together.
Nelson has around 43,000 fossil-fuelled vehicles on the road that could potentially be used less – or shifted to EVs.² Transport is also Nelson’s largest source of emissions, accounting for around 58% of the region’s total gross emissions, with petrol and diesel responsible for 84% of transport emissions.⁴
That means there’s a huge opportunity to reduce emissions by changing how we get around.
Get your workplace involved
Swap One can help businesses create healthier, more engaged and more sustainable workplaces – while having a bit of fun along the way.
Get people moving more through walking, cycling, eBikes and eScooters. Bring colleagues together around a shared challenge. Use healthy competition and leaderboards to build momentum. And start conversations about more sustainable ways of working and travelling. It can even help ease frustration over parking issues!
For businesses, Swap One is a simple way to turn sustainable thinking into something visible, social and practical – and something your people can actually get involved in.