Thirty drivers share three vehicles. They do it in the Irisbuurt in Eindhoven and it works well. “This way you can drive electric without buying a car,” says initiator Rik van der Velden.
The residents no longer have to look for a parking space. The municipality gives them their own parking space for the shared car. As a trial, they are also allowed to use their charging station there, only for the shared car.
Twenty families with a total of thirty users are participating in the Iris Elektrick project. They live a maximum of 250 meters from one of the three shared cars. Reservations are made via an app. Tom Wiegmans is one of the users.
“We need a car once a week on average. This is the best solution for us. You pay 10 euros in subscription costs per month and it is 0.325 euros per kilometer driven. It is the most affordable form of driving and it is sustainable.” According to Tom, everything is included in that amount, from insurance to maintenance.
Sustainable
Tom only sees advantages: “I opted for sustainability and I can drive electric. It is affordable and in the city, it results in less parking pressure.” But with so many users, the car will probably not be left behind so neatly. Not according to Tom. “In general, everyone leaves it neatly behind,” he says with a laugh.
Rik van der Velden is one of the initiators. The project started in 2018. “We were curious whether it would work. We started with a very old car that did not cost much.” There are now two electric cars and one petrol car.
“Several residents have got rid of their second and even their first car,” says Van der Velden. “There are also people who have never had a car and can now drive one.”
More conscious
The shared car ensures much more conscious use. “You pay per ride. The old argument that you take the car because it is already in front of the door is gone. You can more easily take the bike or go on foot. You are more environmentally conscious, but the car is still there and you can use it.”
The purchase of second-hand cars and charging stations is done by the members. They lend their savings. They charge 25,000 euros for a second-hand electric car with a charging station. According to Van der Velden, the members can indicate how much they want to invest.
“It is often somewhere between 500 and 2000 euros. It is a loan that you make to the foundation. They buy the car and in seven years the money comes back to them, with interest. It is more than you get at the bank.”
Agreement
The municipality of Eindhoven wants to have only clean vehicles driving within the ring road by 2030. From 2038 in the entire city. The municipality likes this initiative of the shared car and that is why the alderman signed a cooperation agreement with the Iris Elektrick Foundation on Monday.
The project should serve as an example for other Eindhoven districts so that more clean cars drive through the city. A trial with their charging stations will also start. The two parking spaces of Iris Elektrick will have their own charging station, only for the shared car. In three years, the municipality of Eindhoven will see whether this is also possible for other projects in the city.
Different people
Henk Kok of the foundation also sees a very social aspect to the shared car, because very different people participate. “Women, men, young and old, migrants, people with a small budget, people with a somewhat larger budget. I would never have known many of those people otherwise, but now I do.”
“Not everyone has the money to buy an electric car,” Van der Velden explains. “But we all want to move towards cleaner transport in the city. We have discovered that electric driving is very affordable if you do it together.”
Source: Studio040
Translate: Ayşenur Kuran
