E-Car sharing Company - IBILEK, Basque Country, Spain - ENNEREG Good Practice in Sustainable Transport and Mobility Management

An example of sustainable energy project in the transport sector is described. It is a car sharing company operating only with EV and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Source: Ente Vasco de la Energía - EVE - Copyright: EVE, 2011. Permissions: Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use provided source is acknowledged as follows. Source: Ente Vasco de la Energía - EVE

Summary

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A company has been created In the Basque Country, Ibilek, to implement a new car sharing system using sustainable vehicles, providing access to electrical and plug-in hybrid vehicles with sizes and features suited to the different needs of mobility. Vehicles can be reserved by the hour or day via Internet and call centers.

To become member of the society, the user must sign an annual contract with Ibilek, paying a monthly fee, and another fee for each use of the car. Link to Ibilek web page or download the Good Practice case study to find out more: www.ibilek.es/en/

Differences with conventional renting and car ownership

Unlike conventional renting, it will allow users to book the car for short periods of time, with no need to fill paperwork each time a reservation is made. The main advantages are the following:

It is convenient for people who need a car occasionally, or as a second car.
Flexibility of use: from one hour to several days.
You pay only the time of use and the kilometers traveled.
Access to a car without the cost of car ownership (you do not have to pay cost of maintaining, insurance, taxes…).

Technical & Financial Implementation

The company is a public-private partnership, belonging 50% to the Basque Government through its Energy Agency - EVE - and 50% to REPSOL.

The car sharing system will start operating first in Bilbao, in November 2011, with eight electric and six plug-in hybrid cars. The users will have 24 hour access to a fleet of cars in reserved parking spaces located in the three capitals of the Basque Country when the project implementation is finished.

Aims and Objectives of this Sustainable Energy Action

Car sharing is designed to replace car ownership for people who do not need to drive to work every day, and to significantly reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. A sudden modification of people’s habits it is not expected, but rather a long-term change in behavior, increasing awareness among the citizens. E.g. this initiative can help many families to avoid buying a second car. This initiative will contribute to meeting the strategic targets of European and Spanish energy policy.

Contribution to respect the environment

One shared car replaces from four to ten individually owned cars. Therefore, it would achieve the following:

Lower occupation of the land
Less local polluting emissions, improving air quality, less GHG emissions.
Less noise in urban environments.
Reduced traffic congestion. Less use of private cars.
Promotion of other more sustainable means of transport.
Less demand of parking spaces.
Promotion of healthy lifestyles and neighborhoods

Results and Impacts

Some achievements resulting from this project have been estimated as indicated below:

Energy savings: 155 MWh/year.
Reduction of emissions: 40 t CO2/year.

Find out how much money you could save as a member of Ibilek at: www.ibilek.es/en/es-para-ti/ahorra-con-ibilek/
E.g.: If you travelled 1000 km/year, you could save 6.681 €/year.

Success Factors / Barriers for Project Implementation

Success factors:

A good advertising campaign: Inform the greatest number of people of the advantages with respect to owning a car.
Show that is a real alternative to car ownership: Car Sharing helps people leave the car-owning habit with the financial reward of saving money.

Barriers:

The biggest determinant to vehicle use is vehicle ownership.
The difficulties to incorporate a new technology.

How this Action could be Replicated

Despite the advantages of car sharing, it is very difficult to change the car-owning habit. The greatest opportunities are focused on people who don´t own a car, so the dissemination work among young people is very important.

Activating the municipalities is critical to get to a new urban mobility and urban planning model and to reach the citizens.

The electric vehicle is a new technology, and it is more expensive than the conventional one, so the financing of this initiative is crucial. The involvement of the administration has to be looked at; Public-private partnerships help the introduction of new technologies.

It is very important to make people see that they are saving fuel and therefore money. Furthermore, people are becoming increasingly concerned with the environment, which should be encouraged even more.

Related Information on the Regions 202020 Website:

Sustainable Energy Theme(s): : Sustainable transport and mobility management
Region(s)/Community(ies): ES: Euskadi - Basque Country
Country(ies): Spain

Last updated: 13/12/2011 8:10pm - Contact: Alvaro PEREZ DE LABORDA -