Category: Mobility Companies

Montreal, May 12, 2017– Communauto, a car-sharing pioneer in North America, will move forward with the City of Montreal’s pilot project. This after receiving confirmation that its users will have access to a sufficient number of spaces to release their electric vehicle in Ville-Marie.

In total, approximately 115 on-street parking distributed in about fifty drop-off points will be made available to electric vehicles car-sharing drivers.

Communauto‘s fleet of vehicles already has 120 electric vehicles. Of those, 85 have been labelled Auto-mobile (free-floating without reservation). This makes it the second-largest self-service electric vehicle fleet in the Americas.

Communauto is electric !
“Communauto has always taken the risk of innovating. This is what we are committed to doing by electrifying a portion of our fleet. By combining our offers, with and without reservations, our users enjoy the best of both worlds, said Benoit Robert, CEO of Communauto. For this reason, Communauto’s overall offer will also be increased.

An increased offer
Over the next few weeks, approximately 300 new cars will be brought into service in Canada (Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Halifax) and in France. Two-hundred of these vehicles (hybrid engines) are destined for the Quebec market. In the province, the offer will increase from 1,750 to nearly 2,000 vehicles.

From this number, 75 vehicles are destined for the free floating without reservation service, Auto-mobile, which will total 630 vehicles. These additions will maintain the abundance of supply despite the expansion of the serving territory. As such, additions in the borough of Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension (City of Circus Arts).

This addition will make it possible to maintain the abundance of the offer despite the extension of the service area with the addition of the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension borough of the Saint-Michel sector.

Communauto also wishes to develop the Ahuntsic and Saint-Laurent boroughs.

Close to 500 stations
The 145 other vehicles put into service will be used to improve the offer with reservation. This offer is now deployed in a dense network of nearly 500 stations located in the heart of the neighborhoods. Communauto continues to focus on developing its traditional offering. The opening of nearly twenty new stations in the cities of Montreal, Quebec City, Longueuil, Laval, Gatineau and Sherbrooke is proof of this.

Coming new stations
Montreal: Côte-St-Luc, Cartierville, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Île-des-Sœurs, Hochelaga and Montreal-Nord .

South Shore: Brossard (Mail Champlain) and Longueuil (OMHL).

North Shore: Laval (two stations) one of which will be part of the Urbania real estate development project.

Quebec City: St-Sauveur neighborhoods, Vieux-Limoilou, St-Roch, Montcalm and Vanier.

Gatineau: Hull island.

Eastern Townships : Sherbrooke, in the Fleurimont and Jacques-Cartier sectors.

Highlights of Communauto’s 2017 Development Plan
Development of the offer without reservation Auto-mobile:
• The total number of Auto-mobile is increased to 630 of which 85 (14%) are 100% electric
• Opening of 50 exclusive drop-off points for electric cars in Ville-Marie borough in Montreal
Development of the offer with reservation:
• Communauto is continuing to build on its traditional offer with reservations, with the opening of nearly 20 stations to reach its subscribers in Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Gatineau, Brossard and Longueuil

In total :
• 300 vehicles added including 275 in Canada and 220 in Quebec
• For its entire range, in Quebec, Communauto’s fleet went from 1750 to nearly 2000 vehicles, 120 of which were 100% electric and 1,300 hybrid engines. 72% of the park will now be hybrid or 100% electric

Montreal (Canada), June 22, 2017 – Communauto, North American carsharing pioneer, announced today the arrival of its one-way carsharing service in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The fleet of 20 hybrid vehicles labeled FLEX will be made available in the coming days by the operator CarShare Atlantic, of which Communauto is a majority shareholder. FLEX vehicles can be identified using a smart phone or the website and used spontaneously for trips from point A to point B.

Halifax is the 8th largest city in Canada in which Communauto offers a carsharing service. Moreover, this is his third big launch of self-service car-sharing without reservation. With FLEX, Communauto reiterates its commitment to providing a practical alternative to car ownership. Even more, Communauto combines two carsharing offers : with and without reservation.

Exclusive carsharing permits
Halifax metropolitan area has granted exclusive carsharing permits. Doing so, this allows self-service vehicles to park on the road and in the resident areas.

Hence, vehicles put into service are Prius C, 5-seater hybrids. Even more, the on-board technology was developed by a Quebec company: ETL Électronique.

New one-way carsharing in Halifax

Communauto President and CEO Benoit Robert said: “Our company stands out by offering two complementary offers to meet mobility needs in urban areas. Our service offers both reliability and flexibility, which allows us to contribute in an even more sustainable way to the reduction of the motorization of households.”

About Communauto
Communauto was founded in Québec City in 1994. The company has a social, environmental and urbanistic mission. It is not only the oldest carsharing company in North America but also the first North American carsharing organisation to offer a large fleet of 100% electric vehicles as well as both station-based and free-floating carsharing services. It service relies on more than 2000 vehicles. Its network is in full expansion, present in 7 canadian cities : Kingston, Ottawa, Gatineau, Montreal (Laval and Longueuil), Québec, Sherbrooke, Halifax and, since 2012, in Paris, France.