The Municipality of Palermo and Amat, in collaboration with Renault Italia and Enel, today inaugurated the most significant public electric car sharing service in Southern Italy. The event was attended by Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo, Right Catania, Councilor for Mobility, Antonio Gristina, President Amat of Palermo, Bernard Chrétien, General Manager Renault Italy e Gianluigi Fioriti, Head of Infrastructures and Networks Enel Italia.
To complete the Demetra project, prepared by Amat in agreement with the Municipality of Palermo, in order to create a shared mobility platform (with methane-powered cars, electric cars, bikes, scooters and vans), a call for tenders addressed to car manufacturers for the supply of electric vehicles with connected recharging infrastructure. The tender was won by Renault, which made 2014 electric cars available, together with Enel, which supplied 24 electric charging stations. Through ES Mobility, a company of the Renault Group, the rental of the car batteries was also managed, while SOIGEA took care of the installation and maintenance of the charging stations.
«The launch of electric car sharing – declared the Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo - represents the perfect synthesis of what the City Council has outlined as an intervention plan and methodology with the Paes, the Plan for energy sustainability and the livability of Palermo. In fact, with electric car sharing we combine the theme of sustainable mobility with that of the enhancement of alternative energies. Thanks to the collaboration between the Municipality, Amat, Renault and Enel, the synthesis of the Administration's philosophy towards the Palermo of the future, which we are outlining with our programming and planning plans, takes shape. This partnership – Orlando concluded – due to its quality and size, also marks an important point in the process of building public-private relationships for the supply and efficiency of services to citizens».
«Electric car sharing, which joins methane and bike sharing, – he said Right Catania, Councilor for Mobility - completes the offer of the service which, combined with the launch of the trams and the construction of over one hundred kilometers of cycle paths, completely redesigns mobility in Palermo, offering a vast network of services and finally giving a real alternative to 'private car'. The electric car sharing that is part of the DEMETRA project represents an excellent mobility solution suitable for urban travel and is directly connected with the policies for the progressive reduction of vehicular traffic in the city center and the introduction of limited traffic areas in the process of being definition by the municipal administration, for the benefit of the environment.
«The inauguration of the new electric car sharing service expands the offer of public mobility for individual use in the city area and underlines AMAT's commitment to creating new industrial and commercial opportunities, consistent with the guidelines of the Municipal Administration , with which a 360-degree path was launched for the relaunch of the Company, as a reference subject for public mobility in the Palermo metropolitan area - he declared Antonio Gristina, President of Amat of Palermo - The implementation of the DEMETRA project, prepared by AMAT, through the qualified involvement of Renault and Enel, allows our city to boast the largest fleet of electric cars on the Italian "IO Guido Car Sharing" circuit. This circumstance is a source of personal pride and of all the company staff».
There are 24 100% electric Renault ZOEs that will ensure the car sharing service every day and that for the moment will park in 5 car parks in Piazza Massimo, Piazzale Hungary, Via Malta, Piazza Ignazio Florio and Viale della Libertà. By the end of 2015, the parking lots at the Notarbartolo Station, the Port and Piazza Europa will also be activated. Renault ZOE, symbol par excellence of zero-emission technological innovation, is a functional solution for use in car sharing. It is equipped with a 65 kW electric motor and, in the version adopted in this car sharing service, has a range of 210 km in the NEDC approval cycle, corresponding to approximately 100-150 km in real use1. Renault ZOE recharges in a variable time, depending on the power available in the charging infrastructure; for example, on 22 kW columns, it recharges in just 1 hour (80% of the battery). All the cars are equipped with the technology necessary for use by the car sharing member who will use the same smart card to book the thermal cars already in the fleet. The R-Link touch display located in the center of the dashboard allows you to monitor your driving style, to check how and how much you are consuming.
«Focusing on electric mobility also means contributing to safeguarding Italy's extraordinary artistic and cultural heritage, of which Palermo, with its Arab-Norman route recently declared a UNESCO heritage site, is an excellent example. I express my gratitude to the Municipality of Palermo and to Amat for the trust they have placed in our zero-emission car - he declared Bernard Chrétien, General Manager of Renault Italia – This initiative that we are inaugurating today represents a positive example for us and Palermo is a reference model in the Italian panorama».
Enel, on the other hand, has made 16 stations located in strategic points of the city available to the new car sharing service. The technological innovation of the Enel recharging system provides for both public and domestic recharging infrastructures to be equipped internally with an electronic meter, and with a remote management system which allows eco-motorists to be offered advanced services and the possibility of recharging their vehicles in a simple, convenient and safe way. For the design and construction of the charging infrastructure, Enel relied on the technology of its network: over 38 million electronic meters installed in Italian homes and abroad.
"With electric car sharing, Enel's smart charging system arrives in Palermo, which already sees more than 1800 infrastructures spread and used throughout Italy," he said. Gianluigi Fioriti, Head of Infrastructures and Networks Enel Italia – The sustainable mobility service that is inaugurated today is the result of the forward-looking choice of a municipal administration open to innovation. I am sure it will be greatly appreciated, not only by the citizens of Palermo but also by the many tourists – Italians and Europeans who are particularly sensitive to environmental issues – who come to visit the beauties of this city every year».
