Mobility media releases 2023

The Mobility Cooperative is working with several partners to test the potential of electric cars as energy storage devices, to see how they might contribute to grid stability. The pilot project is set to run until spring 2024, and has already proved that the technology works – but there’s still a lot of work to be done in Switzerland before it can be used on a widespread basis.

In future, electric cars could be used to balance out fluctuations in the grid by feeding power back into the network when they aren’t being driven. This is certainly possible from a technological standpoint, as Switzerland’s own “V2X Suisse” pilot project, which is being led by Mobility, recently demonstrated. Launched in 2022, the project has been able to show in tests that it meets the technical requirements set by Swissgrid, the operator of the country’s national grid . Specifically, this means that the system platform is able to respond to a signal to begin compensating for fluctuations in the grid within two seconds. With the increasing risk of power shortages and energy bottlenecks, this is a major achievement that underlines the potential that this technology has to offer.

The idea behind bidirectional charging is simple: stationary vehicles are used as mobile power banks that can be linked together to form energy storage units and smooth out power peaks. Mobility’s current fleet of 3'000 vehicles alone could, in theory, theoretically supply 60 megawatts – more than the Peccia pumped-storage power plant in Ticino, for example.

Making the most of valuable insights during the winter months
The V2X Suisse project is exploring various regulatory and technical issues surrounding the use of vehicles for bidirectional charging. It is the largest test of its kind to be carried out in Switzerland to date – involving 50 of Mobility’s “Honde e” vehicles that are available for regular car sharing at 40 stations across Switzerland. Customers have already covered more than 400'000 kilometres in these vehicles, with many more to come. This summer, it was decided to extend the project by six months until the end of March 2024. The reason for this that developing the platform was a complex process, and building the V2X infrastructure took longer than expected. Now that the full project set-up is available, the aim is to make the most of the valuable insights to be gained from the winter months. The project’s final report will then be published in summer 2024.

Framework conditions have to be improved
“Generally speaking, there are still significant challenges in terms of setting up a charging infrastructure in Switzerland,” says project manager Marco Piffaretti. But car sharing companies in particular are dependent on uniform solutions when it comes to developing and operating this type of infrastructure. “It’s vital to guarantee non-discriminatory access for reading and writing data. This is the only way to make the most of the potential of electromobility to benefit the grid.”

The focus is now on economic efficiency
The technical feasibility of the system has now been proved. According to Piffaretti, the main task now is to look into the economic viability of the technology involved. “At the end of the day, energy sharing has to be straightforward and economical.” There are still some hurdles to overcome before that is the case, however. In the initial phase, the project has already shown that a lot of distribution grid operators are not really prepared for feeding power back into the grid from dual-use batteries. Among other things, solutions are needed to establish the proof of origin of the electricity that is fed back into the grid.

However, it does look as if the Swiss parliament will soon abolish double grid fees, and this will lay the foundations for economically sensible implementation. In the words of Mobility CEO Roland Lötscher: “It bodes well that politicians have listened to us and understood what we’ve been saying. There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the V2X project. People are seeing the opportunity to make smarter use of the existing energy infrastructure – among our community and station partners, and also the industry associations. If we all do our homework together now, I firmly believe that in a few years’ time, we’ll be sharing energy and mobility.”

PRESS KIT
Download Mobility V2X Press kit

MORE ABOUT V2X 
More information on the project:
mobility.ch/v2x

CONTACT MOBILITY
Stefan Roschi, Communication & Media Officer
Tel. 041 248 21 57, presse(at)mobility.ch

The Mobility Cooperative has entered into a partnership with other sharing companies. As a result, customers of the car sharing pioneer can get discounts on the use of cargo bikes, bicycles, camper vans – and shared office space.

Shared mobility has become even more attractive. That’s because the Mobility Cooperative has entered into a partnership with several other sharing companies and can now offer discounts to its own customers. In keeping with the motto “Share more, get more”, Mobility cooperative members (MobilityMEMBERs) and MobilityPLUS users benefit from discounts on rentals at Carvelo (cargo e-bikes), PubliBike (bicycles) and VanVan (camper vans). “Through the partnerships, we can encourage our car sharing community to also explore other aspects of shared mobility, which is wholly in line with our sustainability efforts,” says René Merkli, Partners & Integrations Product Manager at Mobility. “Shared mobility is an effective way of reducing our environmental impact, saving space and conserving resources,” he adds.

In addition to the three transport providers, Mobility has entered into a partnership with IWG, the International Workplace Group. The cooperation gives customers discounts on the hire of coworking spaces and offices throughout Switzerland – here, workspaces are shared rather than transport.

Partnerships as a means to success
Partnerships have played an important role at Mobility for decades. Mobility continues to maintain a close relationship with the supermarket chain Migros, as it does with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Last year witnessed the emergence of a partnership with the Raiffeisen cooperative, which has seen increasing numbers of Mobility e-cars stationed at the bank’s branches. In addition, cooperations exist with Hertz (car rental), Citiz (car sharing in France) and Zurich’s transport association Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV), among others.

PRESS KIT
Download free image and video material: www.mobility.ch/en/mediacenter

CONTACT MOBILITY
Stefan Roschi, Communication & Media Officer
Tel. 041 248 21 57, presse(at)mobility.ch

Thanks to customer growth of almost 8 percent, 261’000 people now use the red cars provided by Mobility. This growth in 2022 resulted, inter alia, in a 4-percent increase in revenues to CHF 83.9 million. However, the car-sharing pioneer is not immune to the various current global crises, which are dampening prospects for the current year.

In 2022, Mobility Cooperative increased revenues slightly to CHF 83.9 million (+4.0%) and chalked up a net annual profit of CHF 1.4 million. The result is significantly lower than in the previous year (CHF 2.8 million) but better than expected. “I view the result as a major success,” says Roland Lötscher, CEO of Mobility. “Especially if we consider the difficult market situation in which we have to hold our ground as an SME.”

Faced with several challenges
Mobility was faced with significantly higher prices for fuel, energy and procuring vehicles in 2022. An increase in the number of cars being damaged also resulted in more being spent on vehicle maintenance. Delays in deliveries of electric cars and electric charging points also caused problems. In view of the various crises in the world, these trends are likely to continue or intensify in the current year. Nevertheless, Mobility is aiming to press ahead with converting the vehicle fleet to electric drive systems to achieve the goal of being emissionfree – as planned – by 2030. At the end of the year, t he company already had more than 300 electric cars in its fleet. This year, too, a major part of its investment will be spent on increasing this number. “At the same time, we are working hard to improve the customer experience. Car sharing is expected to become even more intuitive and digital,” says Roland Lötscher.

Companies are again making more use of car sharing
Mobility celebrated its 25th birthday last year and marked the occasion by acquiring more than a quarter of a million customers (261’000) for the first time. Following the lifting of the obligation to work from home in February 2022, people are again making more use of car sharing. In particular, the business customer segment at Mobility performed well, meaning that 150 new companies were acquired. The cooperative also saw faster growth among private customers of just under eight percent.
Mobility launched a new product in November 2022 to appeal more to younger customers. It offers particularly attractive terms to people aged up to 28 and is expected to convince them of the benefits of using car sharing at a young age.

PRESS KIT
Download free image and video material: www.mobility.ch/en/mediacenter

CONTACT MOBILITY
Stefan Roschi, Communication & Media Officer
Tel. 041 248 21 57, presse(at)mobility.ch

The partnership between the Mobility and Raiffeisen cooperatives is bearing fruit. Electric vehicles and charging stations have already been provided to 16 Raiffeisen bank branches. This number is expected to rise significantly in 2023.

Two cooperatives are on the road to CO2 neutral mobility. Raiffeisen and Mobility announced their partnership a year ago. As part of this move, all Raiffeisen banks nationwide now have the option of offering a Mobility electric car at their branches. The banks reserve a parking space and share the operating costs while Mobility provides the vehicles and charging points. Raiffeisen’s MemberPlus customers and its employees can then take advantage of a range of special offers and discounts on the carsharing solution when they use these stations.

The project is already yielding some positive results. Some 16 branches in Switzerland have so far been provided with a Mobility electric car and charging point. “It is fantastic that so many Raiffeisen banks have chosen to play an active role in encouraging carsharing”, says Mobility Media Officer Stefan Roschi. The venture has opened up the opportunities of shared mobility to an even wider audience, including in places where this hasn’t been an option before. But we are still a long way from seeing the cooperation’s full potential. Many more Raiffeisen banks have expressed an interest in having a carsharing station installed at their branches, with various kinds of preparatory work already underway. Roschi adds, “We expect to see around twice as many Raiffeisen stations opened over the course of 2023.”  

Regional, sustainable mobility
One of the Raiffeisen banks to have already taken advantage of the partnership is Banque Raiffeisen Alpes Chablais Vaudois. A new carsharing station was unveiled at its Château-d’Oex branch at the start of December 2022 as part of its tenth anniversary celebrations, complete with a car that is not only powered by electricity, but can also return it to the grid on demand. The car is part of Mobility’s year-long V2X Suisse pilot project, which is assessing the potential of bidirectional vehicle charging. “As a cooperative bank, we have a responsibility towards the environment and society. We are delighted that we can use this innovative offer in the field of sustainable mobility to generate real value for the region”, explains Frédéric Zulauf, Chairman of the Raiffeisenbank Alpes Chablais Vaudois Management Board.

PRESS KIT
Download free image and video material: www.mobility.ch/en/mediacenter

MORE ABOUT V2X 
More information on the project:
mobility.ch/v2x

CONTACT MOBILITY
Stefan Roschi, Communication & Media Officer
Tel. 041 248 21 57, presse(at)mobility.ch