Nissan Motor Co is set to commence Japan’s first car sharing programme with the use of its new mobility concept ultra-compact electric vehicles (EV) on October 11 in the city of Yokohama.

The ‘Choimobi Yokohama’ service (which means ‘easy mobility’ in Japanese) will begin with the use of 30 units of the EVs and gradually increase that number to about 100 units in total, said a statement.

The service is a combined effort between Nissan and the city as part of the Yokohama Mobility Project ZERO programme (YMPZ). It is aimed at increasing low-emission transportation options for residents of the city, it said.

The Choimobi Yokohama plan is designed to be a one-way car sharing service that enables EVs to be rented from and returned to any of 45 car pickup/return stations that will be located in the downtown core in Yokohama.

Other companies have joined in to assist in this effort. The membership enrollment and reservation system for Choimobi Yokohama was developed by Hitachi, parking facilities at the various car stations will be provided by Mitsui's Repark of Mitsui Fudosan Realty Co. as well as many other companies and tourist/public facilities. - TradeArabia News Service