- Helbiz electric vehicles powered by Enel Energia are the first example of carbon-neutral micro-mobility
Rome, October 12th, 2020 – Following the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Helbiz and Enel during European Sustainable Mobility Week, Italian cities will now have a fleet of micro-mobility vehicles powered exclusively by renewable energy supplied by Enel Energia. The agreement aims to accelerate the rate of use of scooters and electric bikes in sharing through the exclusive use of renewable sources. As of today, all Helbiz electric vehicles will be powered by certified renewable energy supplied by Enel Energia to all Italian storage and recharging warehouses in the 14 Italian cities currently covered by the service, among which Milan, Rome, Bari, Naples and Turin.
The one-year partnership will also allow Enel Group employees to use Helbiz mobility services at favorable conditions and rates.
"The agreement with Enel is the natural convergence between two companies that are looking to the future solely in terms of the sustainability of our cities," comments Salvatore Palella, founder and CEO of Helbiz. "We believe that offering users a fleet of vehicles powered by Enel Energia, with electricity entirely from renewable sources, is in itself the best guarantee of efficient and responsible use of energy resources. For Helbiz, this is a commitment that translates our vision as a company in which ESG factors play a similar role to other business profitability ratings."
"The increasing use of renewable energy and zero emissions mobility are two essential elements of Enel's commitment to the energy transition towards a more sustainable model," comments Carlo Tamburi, Director of Enel Italia. "The agreement with Helbiz is a further step forward for urban micro-mobility in terms of sustainability, promoting the environment, people's wellbeing and the quality of life in cities."
Helbiz has calculated that the reduction in environmental impact from the use of e-scooters is in the order of over 1.7 kg of CO2 per kilometer travelled compared to the use of fossil fuel vehicles. In the first two weeks of the service's operation in September alone, as emphasized the US company founded by Salvatore Palella, as much as 400 tons of CO2 were saved in Italian cities.
Enel Energia
Enel Energia is the Enel Group company that operates in the free energy market, with over 13 million residential and business customers. Its offer is wide and flexible, with a vast range of electricity and gas offers designed to meet all the consumption needs of families, companies, professionals, apartment buildings and the public administration.
Helbiz
Helbiz is a US company based in New York founded in 2017 by Italian Salvatore Palella, which seeks to solve the last mile problem using an innovative transport vehicle rental platform. On-board connectivity, electric vehicles, shared and on-demand transport are the drivers of the growth of the brand, which is already present in about ten countries worldwide with 750,000 active users in Italy and 800,000 rides around the world. The revolutionary e-scooter rental service fits into this scenario, offering users, and especially those who live in urban contexts, a practical and economical short and medium-range vehicle.
Helbiz has several major strategic partnerships to its credit. Telepass has been an official partner and sponsor of Helbiz since 2018. This agreement has allowed Helbiz to integrate its platform into the Telepass Pay mobile application to provide its mobility solutions to Telepass customers. Since January 2020, Helbiz has partnered with Alipay, the official payment method of the Alibaba Group, allowing Helbiz to accept Asia's most popular payment solution, thus opening the door to 1.2 billion potential users. With Helbiz, you can also develop franchising activities and launch your own worldwide fleet of e-scooters with ease and without any upfront financial charges.