Glimpse into the future with multimodal car-sharing in France

Later this year, the City and the Metropolitan Area of Grenoble, Toyota, energy company EDF, and Citélib will launch a three-year car sharing service featuring 70 Toyota i-ROAD and COMS ultra-compact EVs and around 30 charging stations. The charging stations will be developed and managed by Sodetrel, EDF’s subsidiary. The project aims to complement the current car-sharing scheme in Grenoble, Citélib, and will allow users to hire a small EV at one location and drop it off at another. The system will be connected to the public transport system’s IT infrastructure. The key idea behind the scheme is to incorporate multimodal transport, so commuters will drive an EV for the last few kilometres of their journey. The scheme partners hope this will allow increased flexibility, save time, reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality in the city centres. The project partners will amalgamate their various skills, and be able to thoroughly evaluate the potential of this new form of mobility, which could be replicated in cities around the world if successful. Toyota has said that innovative mobility solutions paired with new IT technologies will begin to allow the introduction of more flexible travel in cities, and as smart cities develop, this kind of scheme will be key. The average daily commute in Europe is a little shorter than an hour currently, and while many commuters in cities do use public transport, they still have to walk for around 15 minutes to reach the end destination. Collaboration Toyota will be providing the 70 ultra-compact EVs used for the project. The i-ROAD is a two-seater, 3-wheel vehicle with Active Lean technology, in which the OEM has combined the handling of a motorbike with the stability of a car. Four i-ROADs can fit into a conventional parking space. The other vehicle is the COMS, a single-seater, 4-wheel vehicle with a small rear storage compartment. The mobility project is the second Toyota has embarked on, after previously establishing a Ha:mo (harmonious mobility) project in Japan. Toyota will also be developing a data management system which will detail reservations and visualisations of the vehicles. This will integrate with the city’s existing transport IT system, and will be operated with a smartphone. Michel Gardel, Vice President, Toyota Motor Europe, said, “This concept fits within our overall future mobility vision which is based on four pillars: safety, comfort, ease of use and ecology. Ha:mo was designed to reduce the stress caused by traffic jams, peak traffic hours, and searching for a parking space. It also allows a reduction in emissions that cause poor air quality in city centres.” EDF subsidiary Sodetrel has experience in commercial management of charging infrastructure for EVs and car-sharing service management for both the public and private sectors. Citélib has over ten years’ experience in running car-sharing programmes. Martin Lesage, General Director, Citélib, said, “On top of our current vehicle range, from two to nine occupants, Citélib by Ha:mo will fill an important gap for short-distance travel and allow our customers to pick up and drop off their vehicles at different locations.” The service will become operational in October, and Grenoble metro community citizens can already pre-register. This collaboration gives a glimpse into what could be the future for car-sharing schemes, which have attracted much interest. According to Frost & Sullivan, five out of the 11 key global OEMs currently offer car sharing services or have started car sharing pilot programmes. Global membership in car share schemes soared more than 90% between 2008 and 2012, and further growth is expected. Rachael Hogg

Glimpse into the future with multimodal car-sharing in France

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