Fingrid’s Market Development Specialist Jukka Rinta-Luoma picks up an electric car from the EkoRent service in downtown Helsinki with practiced ease. A few clicks in the mobile app shows where the nearest available car is located.
“I drive a few times each month. A shared electric car is really convenient and pleasant to drive. The car produces no emissions and it accelerates quickly. A fuel-powered car already seems old-fashioned.”
He’s been using the EkoRent and DriveNow services for a couple of years.
“The best part of this is ease, since I don’t need to worry about anything except driving.”
The Finnish Government has set a target of increasing the number of electric cars in the country to 250,000 by 2030. From Fingrid’s perspective, electric cars can be utilised in the future for balancing electricity consumption and production. The technology solutions needed for this already exist.
“In terms of features, electric vehicles are very well suited for quick adjustment, and on national level, they don’t increase energy demand significantly. However, for example, using fast chargers to charge electric cars in a housing company can increase the load too much. That’s why electricity pricing should encourage slower charging over longer periods of time,” suggests Jukka Rinta-Luoma.
OP’s Business Development Director Timo Kemppainen is responsible for the OP Yhteisauto carsharing services.
“A big change is happening. I believe that the number of shared cars will increase significantly within a couple of years. Rather than reducing the use of public transportation and taxis, this service complements them.”
According to Kemppainen, having enough cars available at all times is essential to service functionality.
“For example, the Tampere Student Housing Association (TOAS) has three shared electric cars, and all of them have a very high rate of use. Students have been really pleased with this service.
