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300 electric vehicles – and counting
Car sharing is a sustainable form of mobility by its very nature. People who share cars tend to use public transport more frequently and a Mobility vehicle replaces 11 private cars on average. This means fewer car parks, fewer traffic jams and less grey energy that needs to be expended on manufacturing the cars. But Mobility will not stop there: the cooperative is in the process of electrifying its entire fleet. It is aiming to achieve this goal by 2030. In December 2022, the cooperative celebrated an important milestone on the way there. In Thun, the 300th electric car and charging station were put into operation, making one in ten of Mobility’s vehicles electric – and the transition is continuing apace.
There are now electric vehicles in all categories
No matter what type of vehicle you need, since last year there are now electric vehicles available to customers in all the main categories, from budget cars to vans. In September, Mobility finally parked its first electric van at Bern railway station, with more additions by late 2022. Mobility’s customers love electric cars: at practically all stations where electric as well as fossil fuel powered vehicles are located, the electric vehicles are used far more frequently.
Obstacles on the road to an electric fleet
Electrifying 3’000 cars and parking spaces presents a significant financial and organisational challenge – especially with regard to expanding the charging network. Among other things, Mobility has to hold meetings with hundreds of landlords to set up power sockets at all existing stations. In cases where this is not possible for technical or other reasons, alternative stations will have to be found over the next few years. Other factors include price increases and supply issues relating to electric cars and components, which presented an obstacle to expanding the electric vehicle fleet during the year under review. On the other hand, the palpable motivation among all active partners to bring about the transition to sustainable, electric mobility is a very positive sign.
Raiffeisen is banking on Mobility’s electric cars
The collaboration between the Mobility and Raiffeisen Group cooperatives started in early 2022 and enables Raiffeisen banks all over Switzerland to park one electric car for sharing in front of their premises. The banks reserve a parking space and share the operating costs while Mobility provides the vehicles and charging points. After just under a year, the results are provisionally encouraging: 16 stations have been put into operation (including approval and fitting of charging points) and there are plans for twice as many to follow in 2023. Both customers and employees of Raiffeisen benefit from the shared cars, thanks to a variety of special offers and discounts. In the same stroke, the collaboration allows Mobility to expand its car sharing network in Switzerland.
Offsetting CO2 for 47 million kilometres
“Cause We Care” enables Mobility customers to make an even bigger contribution to keeping the environment intact. By making a voluntary contribution of 3 centimes per kilometre, the equivalent amount of the journey’s emissions can be saved elsewhere or removed from the atmosphere and stored. Mobility matches all climate contributions made. That means, for every kilometre driven under the “Cause We Care” scheme, 6 centimes go into the “Cause We Care” fund. All of Mobility’s business journeys are also offset in this way. Since the project was launched, over 47 million kilometres have already been offset. In conjunction with the climate protection foundation myclimate, Mobility is guaranteeing money from the fund is used as intended. Among other things, the expansion of the charging infrastructure is also being jointly financed so that all Mobility cars will soon be CO2-free.
Funding for climate protection projects
Money from the “Cause We Care” fund was also used to support or implement other climate protection projects and actions in 2022. For example, by choosing not to exploit timber in an area of woodland in the Prättigau and Davos region, the forestry practices there are being optimised for the climate, permanently removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. To do this, the owners of the woodland are choosing not to exploit timber from their forests and are committing to investing the income from the sale of CO₂ certificates in actions that help to boost the woodland’s resilience and biodiversity. Another project that is being supported involves energy-efficient stoves and solar stoves for Madagascar. Manufacturing and distributing these stoves helps to counteract the rampant deforestation in the country. Children and adolescents are also being made aware of environmental protection in schools and reforestation is boosted.
V2X project: shared cars as power banks
In September 2022, the one-year pilot project of “V2X Suisse” was launched and headed by Mobility. In collaboration with partners from industry, the research community, and academia, the potential of bidirectional technology is being tested under real conditions for the first time. To this end, Mobility is making 50 Honda e vehicles available for the project at 40 stations across Switzerland. These electric vehicles will feed energy from their batteries back into the grid when they are not being driven. This turns them into power banks on wheels and, if used in sufficient numbers in future, they could be used to bridge gaps in the energy supply and stabilise the power grid. This project is also being supported with money from the “Cause We Care” fund.
Mobility and GraubĂĽnden Ferien promote sustainable travel
Mobility has entered into a partnership with Graubünden Ferien and the canton of Graubünden that sets an example for sustainable travel. As part of the “Sustainable mobility in the Grisons” project, five additional, electrified car sharing stations are being created along the Alpine Circle, all of which are at hotels nearby the Rhaetian Railway station or at a PostBus stop so that they are easily accessible by public transport. As an additional incentive, there are discounts for residents and hotel guests. The first station in Sils was opened in December and this project is being continued into 2023.
