How to use e-car sharing effectively

Electric vehicles sharing schemes enable sustainable-minded drivers to rent electric cars for short periods of time. Jürgen Berg, CEO of FLEX, knows how user-friendly e-car sharing options are in Luxembourg and provides five useful tips for beginners.

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1. Mr. Berg, is our market mature enough to offer a wide range of e-cars?

With FLEX Carsharing we actually focus on breaking barriers to mobility, which implies to be as user oriented as possible.

Why? Car sharing has a lot to do with personal mindset. To convince customers to let go of one of their cars and use a shared car instead, takes a lot of involvement and effort from our side. So if our service would be too difficult to use, we wouldn’t be gaining new enthusiastic car sharers for our community every day. To answer your second question, our fleet currently consists of about 30% electric cars and there is no shortage of stations in our network, although more infrastructure would allow us to increase this proportion.

2. Public charging infrastructure is indispensable for e-car sharing. In your opinion, do we have enough charging stations in Luxembourg and the Greater Region?

We operate as a station based car sharing service – which means that our cars have defined parking spots and its own FLEX charging station, our customers are usually not using public stations to recharge the car. However, should they run out of range, they can always stop at a public station to add some more kilometers. Currently, our main challenge is to expand the infrastructure at our stations plus the huge invest we have to finance. We have quite some room to grow. As one car sharing vehicle replaces on average ten other cars on the street, the leverage to increase the use of electric vehicles is big. Additionally, as the charging process takes usually a while, we do definitely see the benefit of the increasing battery capabilities of the latest electric cars.

3. What are the main reasons drivers shift from owning a car to sharing an e-car?

One part of this shift is certainly the financial flexibility and the easy cost management. Our formula is simple: you only pay for what you need. You can drive quite some time and distance with FLEX with the same amount you need to spend on a private car. You don't even have to worry about fuel, maintenance or even a parking space. Plus, with our service you can actually adapt the vehicle to your needs. If you plan a city drive, just use the electric Mini. If you go for the distance or need more space, the electric Skoda Enyaq is your right choice (next to our thermic cars). Customers, that do not own a car and share an e-car, make a conscious decision to save resources (ecological footprint), thus leading to a more sustainable lifestyle. An easy choice to opt for if you have more than 100 cars (including our vans) available at a fingertip.

4. What improvements can we expect for the near future?

We are still a growing company and will be adding more stations and cars in Luxembourg. We’re also looking to extend and improve our sharing offer especially if you plan to use a car for a longer period. Admittedly, fingers crossed that the supply chain issues for the car manufacturers do not worsen!

5. What are your five useful e-car sharing tips for beginners?

5 useful tips:

1. For long-distance journeys, plan your route and make sure it matches the car's range.

2. Should you run low on electricity, check your App (e.g. Flex app) for the next charging point.

3. To save energy, turn on the eco-mode and follow the car’s driving tips.

4. Pay close attention to the battery life in winter.

5. Do not forget to replug the charger, so that the next customer can enjoy the full range of the vehicle.

About the blog:

There is an urgent need for rapid transition to global sustainability. Business and industry have enormous social and environmental impacts. "Why does it matter?" is a bi-monthly blog that aims to elucidate this important topic through the eyes of our experts.

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