2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
Citroen enters the car sharing business. Initially, 100 purely electric C-Zero will be used in Berlin.
By Thomas Flehmer
Citroen is expanding the range of car sharing providers in Berlin. In contrast to its competitors, the French manufacturer, in cooperation with the DB subsidiary DB Rent, uses fully electric vehicles of the C-Zero type. "Multicity is the building block for us to install electromobility sustainably," said Citroen press spokesman Stephan Lützenkirchen of the Autogazette.
Citroen pays parking fees
In Berlin, 100 electric cars will be placed in the capital with the starting shot on September 5. After registration, these can be rented for two euros for ten minutes and for the maximum rate of 39 euros per day. "The vehicles can also be reserved 15 minutes in advance using a smartphone," Lützenkirchen continued.
The electric cars can then be parked in all public parking lots or at RWE charging points within the Berlin S-Bahn ring. "Are paid parking spaces among them, Citroen takes over the parking costs. The user only pays the two euros for ten minutes," says the press spokesman.
Prices for Citroen C-Zero lowered
Lützenkirchen also denies that the project will be positioned purely electrically because sales of the C-Zero are making slow progress. "We have sold 500 units since the market launch in April last year, so we're happy with that." Nevertheless, the new project should of course lead potential customers to electromobility and the purchase of a C-Zero, the price of which has now been reduced to around 25,000 euros.
And the beginning makes those responsible for optimism. Several hundred customers have already registered with Multicity. So many that the fleet should be replenished to 500 by the end of the year. It is also planned to use the model in other large cities.
Citroen expects breakeven in about two years
The C-Zero has a range of up to 130 kilometers before the four-seater has to go back to the charging station. If the vehicle is then parked with only a short range, Lützenkirchen is hoping for "solidarity" from the customers to plug the C-Zero into a charging station. If the solidarity fails, a vehicle service team specially set up for Multicity will take over the tasks. "We can locate the vehicle via GPS and also know the charge status." In addition, the team is responsible for moving a parked vehicle from expensive parking zones so that Citroen does not have to pay excessive parking fees.
Despite the cost of the cars and the service team, the company expects profits to drop soon. "We expect breakeven in the next one and a half to two years," says Lützenkirchen. For comparison: Daimler's Car2Go program started in 2010. In an interview with Autogazette, Smart boss Annette Winkler expected that the company would be profitable from 2014.
