The new “Cité lib by Ha:mo” electric vehicle car-sharing service that Toyota and its partner Sodetrel have been working on recently has been now officially launched in the city of Grenoble, in France.
The service will open to the public on October 1st, and remain open for at least three years as part of a trial-period in which data will be collected and the kinks of the system worked out. Presumably, if the service proves successful, similar programs will be launched elsewhere.
The new service builds — in a way — on Cité lib’s already present car-sharing service, which has been around for nearly a decade now. The y will manage the daily operations of the service for the other partners.
The service, unsurprisingly considering the use of ultra-compact EVs, seems to be positioned as transportation solution for short trips around town. Owing to the setup of the system, and to its great benefit, one-way trips are an option — as the EVs can simply be dropped off at any of the service’s 70 stations around town.
Green Car Congress provides more:
The vehicles and the charging stations are seamlessly connected to the IT infrastructure of Grenoble’s transport network, offering both route planning and online/mobile app reservations.
Toyota is providing 35 Toyota i-ROAD EVs, the largest number in service in the world. The Toyota i-ROAD is an innovative, fun-to-drive three-wheel personal mobility vehicle equipped with Active Lean technology that emulates the movements of a skier. The i-ROAD is as agile as a scooter with the enclosed-canopy comfort of a car. Toyota is also providing 35 four-wheel COMS vehicles.
The 70 Toyota vehicles will be available for short city trips in 27 charging stations installed and operated by Sodetrel—including for one-way trips from one station to another. A total of 120 charging points for the project and 41 for other plug-in vehicles will be added to the city’s transport infrastructure.
The 70 stations are spread out across the metropolitan area, and are generally located near public transportation hubs — enabling easy transfer between the two.
The pricing for the service is set-up as a simple plan that’s been dubbed “3, 2, 1 euros” — which simply refers to the first, second and third 15-minute increment periods. Local transportation card subscribers will have access to a reduced price.
For more information on the subject, check out: Toyota i-Road Testing In France; Toyota i-Road In Action; and Video: The Toyota i-Road Looks Fun As Hell.
Image Credit: Toyota
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
