BMW to expand mobility program in China

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On January 21, at 2018 China EV100 Forum, Joe Pattinson, Head of Mobility Services at BMW China, extended BMW’s will to expand its mobility service business in China.

In his speech, Pattinson mentioned BMW’s partnership with EVCARD, a Shanghai-based electric vehicle-sharing brand under Global Car-Sharing & Rental Co., Ltd.

On December 1 last year, the BMW Group, cooperating with EVCARD, launched its vehicle-sharing service in Chengdu (capital city of Southwest China’s Sichuan province) under the co-brand “ReachNow Powered By EVCARD”. The automaker’s ReachNow brand was launched in U.S. as early as 2016 and followed by a successful pilot operation in Beijing. This program provides an innovative mobility solution for Chinese customers. 100 units of the pure electric BMW i3 have been put into operation in Chengdu at a price of RMB 2 per minute.

Besides, Joe Pattinson stated that BMW also has collaboration with local government in Chengdu to try some new programs, such as open parking lot and EV charging station.

In addition, BMW started to provide its vehicles to some China’s mobility platform. At 2018 China EV100 Forum, BMW China delivered 50 units of i3 to Ur-car, a Chinese mobility brand who was responsible for the transportation during the forum. 

According to the speaker, BMW has done lots of researches and made planning in mobility service area, including vehicle-sharing platform and vehicle rental service. The service is now active in 13 European cities. Besides, 20% of operation vehicles are electric-powered. The automaker thinks that this service will not only reduce the number of vehicles running on roads, but also lessen the cost of public transportation.