SaxMobility II launched in Leipzig, Germany

DNV KEMA coordinates the €6.6 million project

The official kick-off of the SaxMobility II project took place in Leipzig on May 3 as part of the International Transport Forum. As project coordinator, DNV KEMA plays a key role in the project, which is funded by the German federal government and is the second phase of an effort to make electric vehicles easily accessible to the public.

SaxMobility II aims to fulfill the prerequisites for developing a unified access and payment system by means of mobile devices and integrated payment platforms. In sum, users should be able to use multimodal methods of transportation, seamlessly connecting public transit with e-mobility.

In addition to a statement from the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development, Dr. Peter Ramsauer, the kick-off event featured a demonstration of the planned system:  A public transit customer uses a method of public transportation, in this case a hybrid bus. After exiting the bus, she then uses a mobility card to access an e-car-sharing vehicle at a charging point. The electric vehicle was reserved and will be paid for through a smartphone.

To achieve the goals of SaxMobility II, three main steps have been defined: 1) Dresden students and other interested individuals will test a prototypical "car-and-more-sharing" experience; 2) Tests will be carried out with electric vehicles for business and private usage, particularly through the employees and customers of the project partners; and 3) The offer to use an electric vehicle will be introduced to the public as e-car-sharing.

The initial SaxMobility project included the purchase of 40 electric vehicles and construction of 155 charging stations in the regions of Leipzig and Dresden. In addition to the goals outlined above, as part of SaxMobility II, 58 additional electric vehicles will be purchased and about 250 additional charging points will be brought into operation. In addition to DNV KEMA, universities and research institutes, municipal utilities, municipalities, power suppliers, and auto manufacturers are involved in the project. In 2009 Saxony was designated as one of eight model regions for e-mobility by the German federal government.