"We parked up for lunch and put some brochures in the windows, and when we came back there was a group of people standing around having a look."
One of those people happened to be actor Cliff Curtis, who Mr Barlev said turned out to be a fan of EVs.
Mr Barlev believes there are good reasons for widespread adoption of EVs, from environmental to economic.
He said that, environmentally, EVs offered opportunity for the Government to reduce carbon emissions.
"After the dairy industry, the next biggest source of emissions is our vehicle fleet. Since over 70 per cent of our electrical power is from renewable sources, there'll be even bigger emissions savings with an electric fleet here than other places overseas."
Increasing the number of electric cars on the roads would also give power companies another tool to help balance the power grid load over time, using charging vehicles to help deal with peak electrical demand, he said.
He also mentioned that the country spent more than $4billion on fuel imports each year.
"That's money we could be spending locally."
Last year the Electric Vehicle Industry and Government Roundtable found that New Zealand was ideally suited for EVs, with 85 per cent of households having offstreet parking, and a low average commuting distance.
The roundtable noted that the average EV owner would save $2000 in fuel and an additional $800 in road-user charges, thanks to the Government's exemption for EVs until 2020.
Karin Hunt, the Rotorua Lakes councillor overseeing the revitalisation of the inner city, was unable to meet the convoy but said although there were no plans for putting in EV infrastructure this year, it would be a good fit with the changes already planned for the inner city and the more sustainable direction the council wanted to move in.