For this pilot project, which is to be implemented in the short term, the focus was also on the following objectives:
- Increasing the share of CO2-free mobility
- Making e-mobility a tangible experience for all population groups
- Reduction of access barriers to the topic of electromobility
- Evaluation of demand and mood with regard to the new mobility offers (with regard to the plans for a permanent mobility hub for Wolfsburg)
Integration of access media according to the current state of the art.
The overall eMobility CUBE project comprises various sub-projects with different focal points:
In addition to the construction of a customer information center, which also offered workstations, a conference room and an exhibition area for mobility-related topics, the main focus areas of this project were the development of an eCAR sharing and an eBIKE sharing (with a small minimum number of vehicles) and the development of a corresponding IT application (=information technology application) as user access to the rental systems.In addition, project management, marketing, the installation of charging infrastructure at several locations in the city area, the evaluation of data and user experiences as well as the accompanying public relations work were among the core elements within this showcase project.
The eMobility CUBE project originally emerged from the federal initiative "Schaufenster Elektromobilität". The Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg metropolitan region applied for the funding and was selected as one of 4 showcase regions in April 2012. Of the 23 applicants, 4 regions throughout Germany that demonstrated the most innovative elements of electromobility were selected for funding:
- Living Lab BW E-Mobil (Baden-Württemberg)
- International Showcase of Electromobility (Berlin/Brandenburg)
- Our horsepower goes electric (Lower Saxony)
- Electromobility Connects (Bavaria/Saxony)
The more than 30 projects of the Lower Saxony showcase entered the implementation phase between 2012 and 2014. The city of Wolfsburg was the consortium leader of the project with the working title "4.2 Mobility Center Wolfsburg," which was financed by funds from the city as well as a share grant from the state of Lower Saxony.
The list of projects under the Wolfsburg project included the following:
- The establishment and organizational development of an electromobility center in a central location in the city (directly next to Wolfsburg's main train station).
- the establishment of an integrated sharing system with pedelecs and e-cars
- the creation of a barrier-free and innovative access medium
- the installation of charging infrastructure
- the occupation of the new building with information events and services (staff deployment) and
- the integration of concentrated urban offers (e.g. innovations from mobility and work) in a transit space.
As part of the project, which was given the title "eMobility CUBE- Elektromobilitätszentrum Wolfsburg" (Wolfsburg Electromobility Center) in the course of the project, a temporary new building in a central location of the city and a fully automated pedelec rental system with 50 pedelecs at 10 rental locations in the city area were therefore set up, among other things. This approach is unique in Germany: an automated pedelec rental system with one-way rides and 24/7 access via app or RFID card (= contactless identification card), was not found on the German market until now. The eCAR-Sharing to be realized in addition should comprise at least 5 vehicles at 3 rental stations and also offer the possibility of one-way journeys.
The aforementioned requirements for the operator, which was sought through a Europe-wide call for tenders, and the associated task of linking pedelec sharing with e-car sharing via a common app or access card posed the greatest challenge. With the help of a dialog process, a provider was found who would bring the fulfillment of the above-mentioned subprojects to implementation.
With the installation of one DC and three AC charging stations in the city, another sub-project of the overall project was successfully implemented. Furthermore, 75 charging docks for automatic closing and charging of pedelecs were placed at 10 locations in the city area. The following overview map "eMAP" in the newly developed corporate design of the eMobility CUBE shows the charging points and rental locations in the city area in stylized form.
The eMobility CUBE building, which visually resembles a cube (from which the project title "eMobility CUBE" was also derived) served as a service point for customers and interested parties. From the start of operations, the service desk was manned 7 days a week and the specially recruited "eTEAM" was available to answer questions and to register users of the sharing or workstations (first floor). On the 1st floor, an exhibition on the basic idea behind the conceptualization of the project, Volkswagen's "MicroCity" vision of the future, was realized. Here, interested parties were able to obtain information on the topic of the city of the future, and Volkswagen also used the exhibition to solicit visitors' opinions on the topic and to evaluate and further develop specific issues relating to the MicroCity idea.
Eight rentable workplaces were built on the 2nd floor. The aim was to combine the topics of mobility, work, information, exchange and participation in public life and thus to implement some of the approaches of MicroCity as a living lab. The workstations could be rented by the hour or by the day via the operator's website. A rentable multifunctional room was set up on the 3rd floor. This could be used for small events as well as meetings and conferences. The fully equipped room with a kitchenette and a terrace with a view of the listed facade of the VW plant rounded off the building's potential uses.
The city of Wolfsburg, in cooperation with the architectural firm modulorbeat, also succeeded in taking an innovative approach with the building: with the eMobility CUBE, a complex spatial program with different uses could be realized at an urbanistically challenging location: The building plot was very limited (previous use: 3 car parking spaces) and offered only little space to realize the diverse requirements for the use. The idea of the building was therefore the vertical stacking of the different functions into a concise structure, visible from many locations.
The four-story building was erected as a wooden structure made of solid wood elements, which was intended to meet the sustainable requirements of the project, since wood is a renewable raw material. Despite the high demands of fire protection, it was possible to make essential components of the wooden construction visible in order to make this new type of construction tangible for the visitor. As the first four-story wooden building in Lower Saxony, the construction project is characterized by a high degree of innovation.
The structure has large, central window openings in the façade that offer a view into the building like showcases, thus creating a link between the electromobility project and the urban space. In the interior, this created interesting vantage points in the area of tension between the city and the automotive plant.
The facade of colored, folded sheet metal allows the building to appear very different from changing locations and thus became an eye-catcher in the service of electromobility.
Since May 2015, eCAR and eBIKE sharing in the city of Wolfsburg have provided citizens of Wolfsburg and the large number of commuters and tourists with a new, additional option for getting around. Given the high vehicle density and availability in Wolfsburg (statistically 1.5 cars per inhabitant), citizens have until now mostly relied on private cars for their daily journeys. The basic idea was: only by creating an offer that actually represented an adequate alternative to the previous mode of transport could citizens be encouraged to think about their everyday mobility and try out new mobility solutions. The eCAR and eBIKE sharing services strengthened the public transport system in Wolfsburg. Connecting mobility, for example at the Wolfsburg and Fallersleben train stations, has been greatly improved by the establishment of the rental stations, and the selection of mobility offers in terms of multimodality in the inner city area of Wolfsburg has become more attractive.
The guiding principle with regard to access to the sharing vehicles was to keep it as low-threshold as possible. After a one-time registration and verification (presentation of an ID card and, for the use of the eCARs, a valid driver's license), the customer was activated and could then immediately access the vehicles independently 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There was no registration fee or ongoing contribution costs for the customer. Only the actual use or lending time was billed. The billing was based on a daily, hourly and minute rate, which was always balanced in the interest of the customer. This meant that the maximum daily rate of €40 was never exceeded. Specifically, the prices for eBIKE sharing were 0.06 €/minute, 3 €/hour, 12 €/day and for eCAR sharing 0.20 €/minute, 5 €/hour and 40 €/day. During the operation commissioned by the city of Wolfsburg from 05/2015 - 06/2016, the city was keen to charge fees in order to test actual operation, including calculation of travel costs and billing. Nevertheless, the prices for the rental should be kept as low as possible in order to enable a large number of users to test the new mobility services. Finally, the main goal of the project was to bring people closer to electromobility and to make this new form of transportation visible and tangible in Wolfsburg.
The concrete project development, definition of the subprojects and cost calculation were carried out in cooperation between the city of Wolfsburg and the partners Wolfsburg AG and Volkswagen AG in 2013. At the end of 2013, the funding was applied for and in February 2014, the City of Wolfsburg, the consortium leader, received the funding decision. At the beginning of the funding period, planning and implementation measures for individual subareas ran in parallel due to the short project duration. Sharing operations began in May 2015 with 5 eCARs and 15 pedelecs (prototype model).
In September 2015, the prototypes were replaced by 50 new pedelecs. The service station moved to the new building directly next to the main train station in Wolfsburg in October 2015 after a 6-month operating phase in the Tourist Info at the main train station. With the start of operations in the eMobility CUBE, the service offering for customers and interested parties was expanded to include eight rentable workstations, an exhibition on MicroCity, various events on the topic of electromobility, and a rentable conference room.
Until mid-2016, operations continued to be coordinated by and under the auspices of the City of Wolfsburg to almost the same extent as in the fall of 2015. Due to the enormous efforts made to implement the project in a very short time, the city was keen to continue this innovative approach beyond the end of the funding period, also taking into account the federal political focus on the topic of electromobility.
Due to the current economic situation of the city of Wolfsburg (mainly resulting from the consequences of the VW emissions scandal) and against the background that the city had aimed since the beginning of the temporary funding project to hand over the operation to a third party for independent management in the long term, if possible, the city has been involved in the maintenance of the eCAR and eBIKE sharing only ideally since 07/2016.
In preparation for the handover of the sharing operation to a third party, discussions had already been held since fall 2015 with project partners and municipal associated companies and subsidiaries regarding the feasibility of continued operation. The conclusion was reached that continued operation can only be carried out by a company that has the appropriate know-how and experience in this area. In particular, the electromobile vehicle technology with the necessary maintenance and repairs as well as the maintenance and further development of the two access media smartphone app and RFID card "eMobility CARD" represented focal points of the continued operation, which none of the local discussion partners could completely cover.
During the funding period, the operation was carried out by InnoZ GmbH (Innovationszentrum für Mobilität und gesellschaftlichen Wandel GmbH) after an elaborate tendering process.
Just like the representatives of the city, this company from the mobility promotion sector sees great potential in the continuation of the operation initiated by the city of Wolfsburg. Even if the sharing operation, as in all other German municipalities, is currently (still) loss-making, the high degree of innovation and the research field of electromobility are of such great importance that continued operation was sought. Therefore, the city welcomed the decision of the operator InnoZ to continue the existing concept of sharing operation with eCARs and eBIKEs from 01.07.2016 in a slightly reduced form on a self-financing basis with independent partners and sponsors. As a result, the involvement of the city of Wolfsburg in the continued operation will be limited to fulfilling the tasks that arise as the responsible municipality. All operational decisions, such as adjusting the pricing system or maintaining a service point in Wolfsburg, have therefore been the responsibility of InnoZ GmbH since mid-2016. The transition to regular operation, managed by an independent third party, and the expansion of operations announced by the operator to the city in June 2016 were in line with the aspirations of the city administration and were therefore endorsed by the decisive bodies.
After the commitment of the city of Wolfsburg to the eMobility CUBE project was extended beyond the end of the project (until June 30, 2016), the sharing operation with eCARs and eBIKEs was handed over to InnoZ GmbH as described above. The Berlin-based company, which is dedicated to driving forward innovations in the mobility sector, has also been the operating company to date and is continuing the service on its own account.
Pedelecs and electric cars can therefore be borrowed by existing customers as usual. New customer registration is currently only possible for eBIKE sharing. Registration for eCAR sharing requires presentation of the original driver's license at an authenticating office. According to its own statement in July 2016, InnoZ GmbH is working flat out to establish a new service point in Wolfsburg's city center.
Please direct any questions regarding the sharing operation, registration and lending to InnoZ GmbH using the contact details below:
Phone: (05361) 89 06 153
E-mail: emobility@wolfsburg.de.
Postal:
Innovation Center for Mobility and Social Change (InnoZ) GmbH.
Keyword "eMobility CUBE Wolfsburg".
Torgauer Str. 12 - 15
10829 Berlin
Furthermore, further information and current news can be found on the website www.emobilityCUBE.de, which is maintained by InnoZ.
The service operation in the eMobility CUBE was not continued after InnoZ GmbH took over the operation. Therefore, the workstations and the conference room in the eMobility CUBE are currently not rented to external users. The building remains the property of the city. A subsequent use is currently being prepared. As soon as InnoZ GmbH has set up the announced new service center in Wolfsburg, we will be happy to inform you here.
The 4 electric charging stations set up as part of the project at Wolfsburg's main train station and at Fallersleben station will continue to be available to all drivers of electric and hybrid cars. Refueling is free of charge until further notice.