DAIMLER AG - car2go announced that 18 new dedicated electric vehicle charging points are available in three Amsterdam Q-Park garages. After successfully launching car2go in November 2011, more than 7.000 members are using the service for their trips in the Amsterdam city center. To locate available vehicles, car2go provides all members with a free Dutch Smartphone application and is going to introduce its driving style analysis called "EcoScore" to reduce power consumption.
New parking spots at Q-Park garages
The 18 new car2go parking spots with electric vehicle charging poles at the popular Q-Park garages Mahler, Bijenkorf and De Kolk are exclusively available for car2go drivers from now. Members can find the parking spots following the signage at the entrance of the garages. Fees for parking at the garages and charging the car2go vehicle are included in the rental fee of 0,29 € per driving minute and 0,09 € per "stop over" minute. The new charging points will make it even easier for car2go users to access busy areas of the city to charge their car2go. Another advantage is that the existing charging infrastructure of 400 poles will be freed up. The additional charging points at Q-Park have been made possible thanks to a subsidy from the Municipality of Amsterdam. Parking at public charging points in Amsterdam is only permitted if the vehicle is connected to the charging point; this applies for all car2go and other electric vehicles.
Successful launch phase in Amsterdam
The Daimler subsidiary car2go successfully launched its first European all-electric carsharing network in Amsterdam in November 2011 with 300 smart fortwo electric drive. To date, more than 7.000 people have registered for the service renting the vehicles around 5,000 times a week with a strong upward trend.
"With our all-electric car2go fleet in Amsterdam, we have launched one of the biggest markets for electric vehicle sharing in Europe giving thousands of people the opportunity to drive electric cars," said Robert Henrich, CEO of car2go. "We are exited to see how easily and enthusiastically people are integrating electric mobility in their daily lives."
New car2go app now available in Dutch
Since the start of operations in Amsterdam in November 2011, customer feedback helped to improve the service and several technology features have been introduced to the members. In April, the first official car2go application named "car2go" was launched for iOS systems (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) and is available in Dutch amongst other languages. It can be downloaded for free at the app store and helps members find and book the closest available car2go vehicle in their city. An application for Android systems will be available in June.
EcoScore driving analysis to be introduced in summer
Furthermore, an innovative driving style analysis called EcoScore will be introduced in the course of this summer. The application can be seen on the touch screen inside of each car and provides drivers with information on the environmental compatibility of their driving style. The EcoScore app monitors acceleration, deceleration and cruising behaviors. Three trees on the display will either grow or shrink, whereby the bigger the trees, the higher the overall EcoScore. The index is used to calculate the effect of the driving style on power consumption and aims to support safer driving thanks to thoughtful driving. The first stage of the EcoScore program is purely for informational purposes, but it's also possible that drivers with a driving style that is particularly environmentally friendly could be rewarded in the future. Experience in other car2go cities showed that car2go drivers are enthusiastically monitoring their personal EcoScore whilst saving power and arriving safely at their destination.
More than 100.000 car2go members worldwide
car2go is the market leader for flexible short-term rentals and has already successfully launched in eleven cities in Europe, USA and Canada. More than 100,000 members have registered for the service worldwide. A total of more than 4,000 car2go vehicles (including 625 smart fortwo electric drive models) are currently on the road and have been rented more than two million times. Amsterdam is the first home of car2go in the Netherlands and one of Europe's first all-electric carsharing networks.