Nissan’s battery electric LEAF hatchback is at the heart of an innovative new car-sharing scheme that’s started in Montreal.
Some 20 Nissan LEAFs now form the fleet of Auto-mobile, the country’s first 100 per cent electric one-way car-sharing service. Based in the famous Le Plateau-Mont-Royal area of the city, the cars can be hired by citizens to make quick trips or longer journeys around the borough.
The whole process is fully automated. Anyone who’s signed up for the car-sharing scheme can discover where the nearest car has been left by using an app on a smartphone. Access to the car is then via an OPUS charge card which is used by all transit companies throughout the Greater Montreal area.
The car can be hired for a few minutes, a few hours or even by the day. And to make the scheme even more attractive, every LEAF in the program has a universal parking permit allowing it to be left almost anywhere.
“The environmental gains could be very significant, if this service replaces gas-powered (petrol or diesel) vehicle trips [and] if users get rid of their second car,” remarked Daniel Bouchard, head of campaigns at the Conseil régional de l’environnement of Montreal.
It will be interesting to see how the Auto-mobile program is received and ultimately, what kind of impact it will likely have on the future of vehicle ownership, sales and service in the Greater Montreal area.
