Toyota is supplying 70 i-ROAD and COMS ultra-compact personal mobility electric vehicles to a three-year integrated EV car sharing and public transport test project in Grenoble, France.

The scheme is operated by a unique partnership between the City and the Metropolitan Area of Grenoble, French energy company EDF, Japanese car maker Toyota and Citélib, a local car-sharing operator.

The car-sharing scheme will complement Citélib, the current car-sharing service of Grenoble, by allowing users to pick up one of the small EVs at one location and drop it off at another.

The project also aims to promote interconnectivity of public transport methods (trams, buses, trains) and a new type of personal mobility using small vehicles that don't take up as much space as a normal car. The main idea is to allow commuters to drive the first or last kilometres of their journey for increased flexibility and time-saving, thus contributing to reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality in city centres.

"The Grenoble-Alpes Métropole community has always been open to innovation," explains Christophe Ferrari, President of the Grenoble-Alpes Métropole.

"In terms of scale, it's perfectly suited to this kind of test, and in Grenoble, we have a tradition of daring to do things. The partnership itself, between us, Toyota, EDF and Citélib, a local car-sharing operator, is in and of itself also an innovation in France," he added. 

"It's a great opportunity for our community to test, for three years and exclusively in Europe, a new mode of mobility that's not only innovative but also economic and ecological It's an experimentation that is bound to be followed by others for the benefit of our citizens."