Skip to main content

First all-electric car-sharing scheme in North America to launch

ECOtality has announced a partnership with Car2go, a subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure to support what is being claimed as the first 100-per cent electric car sharing programme in North America. With plans for approximately 300 Smart Fortwo electric drive vehicles, the programme in San Diego represents the largest fleet of EVs in the United States.
April 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS276 ECOtality has announced a partnership with 4190 Car2go, a subsidiary of 2069 Daimler North America Corporation, to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure to support what is being claimed as the first 100-per cent electric car sharing programme in North America. With plans for approximately 300 Smart Fortwo electric drive vehicles, the programme in San Diego represents the largest fleet of EVs in the United States.

“Innovative car-sharing programmes like Car2go’s service are pivotal to encouraging the mainstream adoption of electric vehicles,” said Jonathan Read, CEO of ECOtality. “As we deploy approximately 1,000 Blink charging stations in the San Diego region as part of The EV Project, we are creating the robust public infrastructure necessary for Car2go’s programme to succeed. Together, we will show that EVs are a perfect fit for the lifestyle of San Diego drivers.”

Car2go’s all-electric programme will begin in San Diego in late 2011. The company provides a total of more than 40,000 members with more than 1,000 low-emission smart fortwo vehicles in four cities.
ECOtality is currently installing approximately 1,000 publicly available Blink charging stations throughout the San Diego region as part of ‘The EV Project’. Data collected by the charging stations will be analysed to better understand how EV drivers charge their car, and help to guide future rollouts of commercial charging stations.

ECOtality is the project manager of The EV Project and will oversee the installation of approximately 14,000 commercial and residential charging stations in 18 major cities and metropolitan areas in six states and the District of Columbia. The project will provide an EV infrastructure to support the deployment of 8,300 EVs. The project is a public-private partnership, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy through a federal stimulus grant and made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • 60% of new cars globally will feature connected car solutions by 2017
    July 4, 2012
    New findings from ABI Research predict that global OEM connected car system penetration will increase from 11.4 per cent in 2012 to 60.1 per cent in 2017. While penetration in the US and Western Europe will exceed 80 per cent by 2017, developing regions such as Latin America and Eastern Europe will also see strong increases in telematics penetration in new vehicles, largely driven by mandates in Brazil and Russia.
  • Fleet management systems likely to become standard fitting in the Americas
    July 6, 2012
    According to a new research report, Fleet management in the Americas, from Berg Insight, the number of fleet management systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets in North America was 2.8 million in Q4-2011. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9 per cent, this number is expected to reach 5.9 million by 2016. In Latin America, the number of installed fleet management systems is expected to increase from 1.3 million in Q4-2011, growing at a CAGR of 16.6 per cent to reach 2.8 million in 20
  • Siemens wins EV charging contract in Portugal
    April 17, 2012
    As part of Portugal's programme to promote electromobility (Mobi.e), Siemens Portugal has concluded a framework agreement for up to 300 charging points. A binding order for 100 of these charging points was placed by Intelli, the coordinator of the Mobi.e programme. Intelli intends to install the charging points in 25 cities by 2012.
  • Senior Inrix appointments announced
    July 12, 2012
    Inrix, the international provider of traffic information and driver services, has announced the hiring of four industry leaders from the automotive and mobile industries to drive the company’s European business development and global marketing efforts. In addition, the company is naming former Blue Nile CEO Diane Irvine, to its board of directors.