Stephen Rees's blog

Modo, the car co-op, has added an all electric car to its fleet, and sent me the following press release. As it happens, I am not a member of that co-op, nor have they offered me the chance to drive the car. So I have very little to add to what appears below. Except to say that  for people who need to pick up and return a car near City Hall, I would be very interested to learn about their impressions of this car.

VANCOUVER, Nov. 1, 2011 /CNW/ – In a region where sustainability is an important measure of livability, Modo The Car Co-op has added its first fully electric vehicle (EV) to its fleet, a first for carsharing in Western Canada.

The not-for-profit carsharing organization was eager to offer an EV to its members once it could confirm that a parking spot with charging infrastructure would be available.

The City of Vancouver stepped up and offered Modo a spot with EV charging capacity at a City-owned EasyPark parking lot (453 West 10^th Ave., north of City Hall) where an EV public charging pilot is currently underway.

Carsharing fits into the City’s Greenest City goals: every carsharing vehicle removes between 4 and 30 vehicles from the road, depending on the study. And an electricity-fuelled vehicle shared by many people further reduces the climate impact from driving cars.

Modo is grateful to have such strong collaboration with the City of Vancouver towards carsharing. “The City has been supportive from the start,” says Douglas Dunn, Modo’s Fleet + Operations Manager. “From offering advice on different EV models to providing the parking spot for our first EV, staff at the City have shown how committed they are to achieving their Greenest City targets.”

The EV, a 2012 Nissan LEAF, is now available to be booked by all Modo members.