Development of the Car-Sharing System

Our company has been challenging the concept of "ultra-small mobility" × "sharing" since January 2021.

※For what ultra-small mobility is, please refer to the previous article.

As stated in past articles, we purchased the following vehicle in January 2021.

Why We Purchased the BMW i3

When searching for ultra-small mobility vehicles currently on the market, it became clear that most vehicles lack "something" necessary for sharing.

That is the "electronic key".

While it is not impossible to share physical keys, we believe that eliminating the need for key exchanges and allowing smartphone access via an app enhances user convenience, which is why we wanted to adopt such a system.

Among the vehicles available, we found this BMW i3. It is actually a four-seater and falls under the category of a regular passenger vehicle. However, its driving range when fully charged is 120 km. It is a used vehicle manufactured in 2014 during the early days of EVs, and I considered that it could be used for purposes similar to ultra-small mobility due to battery degradation; thus, we selected the BMW i3.

- Being equipped with an electronic key (to create a mechanism for unlocking and locking via a smartphone app)

- Being able to meet usage needs similar to ultra-small mobility (having a short driving range)

These two factors were the deciding points for adopting the BMW i3.

Company Car Management System

By utilizing a key box developed by a certain company, we have built the following system and have been experimenting with sharing among employees.

We have completed the verification of this system and will provide it to companies that own company cars.

At this point, we can offer it not only for ultra-small mobility.

Future Outlook

For employee usage, it has become apparent that there is hardly any use outside of Tokyo, and if it is only to operate within the city, this vehicle has sufficient battery capacity. All employees can use it conveniently. Given this, we plan to also work on external sales of this system in the future.

Additionally, compared to regular passenger vehicles, ultra-small mobility is expected to spread due to its lower average price. I would like to research what kinds of demand exist not just for people like us in urban areas, but also in suburban areas and regions with inconvenient transport.

If there are corporations or local governments interested in a system like the above, pleasecontact us through our company website.