Hawaii’s largest electric utility has embarked on a long-term plan to dramatically increase its use of electric vehicles for business.

Hawaiian Electric announced this week that it will eliminate use of roughly 300 gas-powered vehicles over the next 15 years.

The 300 vehicles represent roughly a third of the company’s fleet of about 925 vehicles. Some of these 300 vehicles — all of which are passenger cars, SUVs, light pickup trucks and minivans — might be retired and not replaced, but all replacements will be powered by electricity, the company said. Another 100 or so small Hawaiian Electric vehicles are already electric-powered.

The bulk of the company’s fleet, representing about 525 vehicles, consists of medium- to heavy-duty vehicles that include trucks that can hoist workers up to utility lines. Those larger vehicles are not part of the electric conversion plan.

Hawaiian Electric said it committed to the large number of electric vehicle purchases and installing necessary chargers in part to encourage other businesses to do the same.

Saving money is another motivation. Hawaiian Electric said electric SUVs available today can cost 25% less to own and operate compared to gas SUVs, trucks or vans over 10 years.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism reported in July that there were 12,198 electric passenger vehicles statewide, representing 1% of the nearly 1.1 million passenger vehicles registered in Hawaii.

Hawaiian Electric said transportation in Hawaii consumes nearly two-thirds of imported petroleum and discharges over half the greenhouse gas emissions statewide.