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Kristijonas Kaikaris, Director of CityBee. Photo by Vladimir Ivanovo (VŽ)
CityBee, a mobility services platform, announces a major expansion of its electric vehicle fleet and the installation of ten 300 kW charging stations. The company expects state support.
The first CityBee electric cars will be offered in April, platform operator Modus Group promises.
According to the company, a total of more than 700 new electric cars will be offered to customers. Although it is not disclosed, for how long the project will be implemented and if the cars will be destined for Lithuania or for business in all the Baltic countries.
The number of electric cars offered by the platform is promised to increase systematically every month. Some of the new car dealerships VŽ interviewed claim that CityBee intends to purchase not only personal electric cars this year, but also around 100 commercial electric cars for rent.
Furthermore, most of the manufacturers’ representatives in VŽ state that due to the limited supply possibilities in Lithuania, it is not easy for buyers to present tens or hundreds of new electric cars. This can be an overwhelming challenge hampering the ambitious development of the platform.
Wait for an evaluation
Kristijonas Kaikaris, CEO of the company, quoted in the company report, states that creating sustainable and efficient communications has always been and is CityBee’s mission. As a result, the company is constantly investing in new cars, many of which are hybrids.
VŽ wrote that K. Kaikaris, who had become the head of the companies leading the platform last November, revealed that he was preparing the CityBee park electrification program.
“Electric cars are a logical continuation of our company philosophy, which, I know, is especially expected, expected by many of our customers. I believe that this electric car project will not only make them happy, but will also contribute to the development of the common market for electric cars in the country ”, the platform owner is quoted in the report.
Stations and stops
The car-sharing company also announces plans to invest in the development of a network of fast charging stations for electric cars in Lithuania. CityBee announces plans to install 10 ultra-high capacity charging stations, each with an estimated capacity of 300 kilowatts (kW).
For example, most of the Ignitis ON and the Lithuanian Highway Administration stops reach 50 kW.
Such CityBee electric car charging stations are planned to be installed in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, close to the country’s highways and main roads, but the company does not specify whether they will be used for public use or only for platform electric cars, as they are the closest. It was done by the CityBee competitor. The Spark platform, which exclusively rents electric cars, started in the early 1990s.
CityBee electric cars will also be able to be charged at the company’s partner Ignitis and charging stations.
K. Kaikaris notes that the number of charging stations for electric cars will steadily increase due to “significantly higher” commercial interest in this option.
Waiting for support
The state is also expected to contribute to the jump in electric vehicle development that CityBee is preparing. The platform operator announces that it has prepared a project with a total value of 16 million. EUR. It was evaluated by the Environmental Project Management Agency (APVA) of the Lithuanian Ministry of the Environment. It is also indicated that the support allocation for this project will be announced in the near future.
VŽ wrote that APVA’s support for electric car buyers has been suspended for an unknown period, which has completely suspended the trade in new electric cars.
Promises to be the best
CityBee announces that after implementing its electrification project, the platform will manage and offer customers more electric vehicles than were registered in Lithuania in 2019 (529), or more than half the number in the country last year (1,184). The report also claims that CityBee’s electric car fleet will be the largest in the Baltic countries.
According to VŽ data, CityBee, which buys new cars with four-digit numbers every year, has traditionally been the largest buyer in both Lithuania and the Baltic countries.
VŽ wrote that Nerijus Dagilis, the head of the Spark platform, is also planning a rapid development of short-term rental of electric cars in Lithuania. Last year, Spark was the largest buyer of this type of electric vehicle in the country, with the purchase of 123 new electric cars. Currently, the platform offers to rent 300 electric cars in Vilnius. Ineta Dagilienė, representative of this operator, VŽ confirmed that it is planned to buy 250 new electric vehicles this year, but this will depend on the pandemic and movement restrictions in the country, as well as support programs for the purchase of new electric vehicles. vehicles.
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