With petrol prices sparking blowouts in many people's budgets, a Northland power company is keen to plug a different kind of juice.
Northpower bought its own electric car in late 2012 - it now has 8000km on the clock - and intends buying a plug-in hybrid next year.
While that might be the only fully electric car in Northland, the company sees helping other electric vehicle (EV) owners fill up the tank as part of the region's future-proofing.
Anyone in Northland or travelling through the region is already welcome to charge up at Northpower's depot - just not after-hours. But the innovative, small provincial lines company is also investigating ways to provide public charge-up stations.
Long term, the best locations for public charge-up stations would be at shopping and visitor centres or other places of local interest, Northpower public affairs manager Steve MacMillan said.