Mobility: One in ten drives an electric vehicle
ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES The car-sharing company Mobility has had 300 electric cars in operation since this December and is thus on track. By 2030, the entire fleet is to be converted to electrically powered vehicles.
The Mobility cooperative is celebrating a milestone this week. In Thun, the 300th electric car, including charging station, has been put into operation at the station/parking garage City Süd. This means that one in ten of the car-sharing company's vehicles is purely electric.
And the number will continue to rise, because Mobility's goal is to run its entire fleet of 3,000 cars on electricity by 2030. This is to fulfill the company's sustainable purpose, which is laid down in the cooperative's articles of association.
Fear of contact is a thing of the past
Thomas Schmid, head of the supply network at Mobility: "The e-cars have been well received by customers. Our customers have overcome their initial fears. At virtually all locations where there are both electrically and fossil-fueled cars, the electric vehicles are much more heavily used."
For Mobility, however, the switch to electric drives also poses a number of challenges. The 3,000 or so parking spaces throughout Switzerland are rented, so it takes a lot of individual discussions and negotiations to set up power connections everywhere.
Bidirectional charging as a pilot project
Mobility CEO Roland Lötscher: "We sense that all our partners are motivated to work on the sustainable, electric turnaround. But it is also up to the politicians to create the necessary framework conditions. The charging stations are provided by Mobility. Where it is not technically possible to electrify the parking spaces, alternative locations will be sought."
Mobility is also currently testing the potential of bidirectional charging with the recently launched V2X Suisse pilot project (gallery left). The trial is running with 50 Honda e, which can both draw electricity and feed it back into the grid. In the future, electricity providers could use these powerbanks on wheels to compensate for grid fluctuations and counteract shortages.
