French car company PSA Groupe has announced that it will expand its Emov electric car-sharing service to Lisbon, Portugal.
The electric car-sharing service will launch in Lisbon next month with an initial fleet of 150 Citroën C-Zero models. As well as travelling around the city centre, users of the service will also be able to travel to and from Lisbon Airport (LIS) using the Emov vehicles, which represents an expansion of the company’s services.
Emov initially launched in 2016 in Madrid, Spain, and provided an easy-to-use electric car-sharing service which can be accessed by users through smartphones for use around the city centre. The company reports that it now has more than 160,000 customers in Madrid alone.
In addition to its move into Portugal, the company has announced a number of other improvements to the service as part of its expansion. For example, for a €1 additional fee per journey, users will no longer be liable for a €500 excess in the event that they are responsible for any damage to the vehicle.
Emov also plans to provide extra services for corporate users, particularly start-ups and SMEs, which could save some 50% compared with conventional driver and vehicle solutions.
What has Emov said about the expansion?
Fernando Izquierdo, chief executive officer of Emov, said that this expansion of the company’s services was a realisation of its ambitions. He explained: “In little more than a year, we’ve consolidated the Emov service in Madrid and it’s always been one of our aims to broaden the scope of the project and operate in other domestic and international cities”.
Izquierdo also suggested that the electric car-sharing service was eyeing other cities within Spain to facilitate its further growth, and that this could happen in the near future: “Right now we’re focusing our efforts on the launch in Lisbon, but we haven’t ruled out the possibility of extending it to another large Spanish city before the end of the year”.
