Sustainable mobility for Volvo is a social mission. And Milan is the ideal city to “direct” customers, favoring them in the discovery and use of electric cars. A live laboratory to test social initiatives that can then be exported to other metropolises. Thanks to Volvo, the first fast charging station (Powerstop) operating in an Italian city has already been inaugurated in the glamorous district of Portanuova. And here, since last November, 265 refills have been made for a total of 4,863 kWh delivered.
Based on the average distance of an electric car this means a distance of about 22,000 km, with a saving of 3.5 tons of CO2 compared to thermal cars. The project will expand with the electrification of the entire district through 600 charging stations installed in the district within the year.
Now Volvo has presented another initiative, called ELEC3City. It is a sharing service for individuals and companies that provides for the availability of 15 XC40 Recharge (version with a single 231 HP engine with a range of 423 km). From 14 April they are in the Varesine Portanuova underground car park, for everyone to use. The service is accessible through an app that can be downloaded from the IOS and Android stores, available within the Portanuova Milano App. They can be rented for a time ranging from 30 minutes (0.25 cents per minute) to several days. The hourly rate is 15 euros, after three and a half hours of use the daily rate of 50 euros applies. The car will then be returned to the parking lot where it was taken.
“Neighborhood sharing is an absolute novelty, a virtuous example for Italy and Europe – explained Michele Crisci, president of Volvo Italy -. A valuable service also for the mobility managers of companies. For us it is confirmation of a concrete commitment to the new mobility, a strong signal. Assuming an use equal to 80% of the capacity and considering the characteristics of the XC40, we can estimate an average annual mileage of 240,000 km. Using endothermic models, whose average figure of emissions is 120 g / km, 30 tons of CO2 would be emitted “.
“It is always said that using the car in the city is complicated and a source of problems and pollution – added Crisci – and with ELEC3City we want to demonstrate the opposite. Our strategy linked to electric mobility favors the integration between cars and cities. “.
With the CEO of Coima, Manfredi Catella, the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, attended the presentation of the project at the Volvo Studio. “The future of a modern city – he said – is based on innovation to intercept global trends. And on the concept of community to integrate public and private sectors. With Volvo in Portanuova, today we provide a vision of an evolved metropolis”.
Volvo will become a manufacturer of all-electric cars by 2030 (as well as a climate-neutral company by 2040) and plans to launch a whole new range of zero-emission cars in the coming years – XC40 Recharge models are available today and C40 Recharge. To facilitate the transition, the Swedish company has committed to installing other 150 kW ultrafast charging stations nationwide in collaboration with dealers and near exits of major motorways and at other strategic points. Charging points open to electric vehicle users of all brands. In addition to Milan, they are already active in Perugia, Bologna, Ferrara and Verona; openings in Rome, Trento and Turin are imminent. From the Milanese “laboratory”, Volvo Italia’s mission will take off across the country.
