Enel and Car2go, car sharing goes electric

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The paradigm of future urban mobility features two major innovations: car sharing and the use of electricity to power them. Enel and car2go are accelerating the process, by combining their expertise to develop electric car sharing projects worldwide, with a particular focus on the countries in which the multinational power company operates.

The project - one of the most important of its kind in Europe - was launched in Madrid with 350 electric vehicles, which will soon become 500 e-cars available for car sharing purposes. Just like the regular car2go service, customers can pick up and return their e-car at any point in the area covered by the service.

For the first time, car2go will offer a centralised recharging system, with hubs situated in various “hidden” locations around the city. Customers will therefore have access to electric cars that are ready for use at any time, without having to personally recharge the vehicle. A car2go fleet team will pick up the vehicles that require recharging and take them to the closest hub. In order to achieve this goal, Enel and Endesa, the Group's Spanish subsidiary, supported car2go in the search for hub locations, as well as their actual implementation. Enel will provide e-car charging technology, namely twenty-eight 22-kW  Wall Boxes: a secure and intelligent remote recharging system. Enel will also be responsible for power supply and for maintenance service.

The Enel Group is one of the leading global players in the development of recharging systems and in the promotion of e-mobility. In Malaga, Spain (city which is already participating in a smart city project), Enel has installed the largest fast-charging network ever developed in a European city, as part of the Zem2All (zero emissions for all) project.

Endesa has also joined the GrowSmarter project, supported by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 programme. The initiative was launched in Barcelona and will involve the installation of five FASTO charging points, a technology developed by Enel to recharge up to three vehicles simultaneously in 20-30 minutes. The Group has also implemented V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) stations, a two-way charging system that turns e-cars into actual “mobile batteries” that can use, store or feed electricity back into the grid. This highly innovative technology will be developed for use on a larger scale by Enel and Nissan, thanks to a partnership that was announced at the recent United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21).