Exit from Slow Sales?
Hyundai Motor Company announced on October 8 that it held the Amsterdam Ioniq Car Sharing Service Launching Ceremony on October 5 (local time) at the National Museum of Amsterdam.
100 Ioniq Electrics are scheduled to be used for the electric car sharing service in the Dutch capital city. Users can reserve the cars via the dedicated app or http://www.IONIQcarsharing.nl. Their password keys are digitally transmitted so that the cars can be used without physical car keys. The car rental period can be set to one minute to seven days. After using the service, customers can return the cars at various sites located in downtown Amsterdam.
A large number of drivers in Europe are expected to be interested in the service as the Netherlands is home to approximately 2,200 electric vehicle charging stations. Hyundai Motor Company is planning to provide mobile quick charging for the 100 Ioniq Electrics as well so customers can use the service without concerns about the driving range of the electric vehicles.
In the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) mode, the Ioniq Electric can drive up to 280 km after its 28 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery is fully charged. The driving range is considered enough to cover the entire Netherlands from the capital city.
In the meantime, BMW is already providing a similar service in multiple European countries, such as Denmark, Finland and Portugal, under the brand of Drive Now. The service was launched in 2011 and it has approximately one million customers now. The car sharing unit of BMW recently merged itself with Car2Go, Daimler AG’s car sharing division.