In order to make progress in climate protection, it is not enough just to convert existing cars to electric drives, believes the Federal Association of Carsharing. Rather, a general rethinking is necessary – also in politics.
In order to advance the traffic turnaround and to achieve the ambitious climate targets, the car sharing industry is demanding support totaling 500 million euros from the future federal government over the next four years. Carsharing is “an indispensable component for the climate-neutral transport of the future”, says Gunnar Nehrke, managing director of the Bundesverband Carsharing (BCS). In order to expand the car sharing offer nationwide in Germany by 2045, investments are required, among other things, in additional charging options for electrically powered car sharing cars. In addition, the municipalities are now required to designate additional parking spaces for car sharing cars, says Nehrke. The legal basis for this has been created at federal and state level in recent years.
There are currently around 26,000 car sharing vehicles available in 855 cities and municipalities across Germany, most of them at fixed rental stations, of which there are currently 6,200. In order to spread car sharing even further, more rural regions would have to be served more in the future. In rural areas as well as in small and medium-sized cities, according to Nehrke, the number of car sharing stations should at least triple by 2025. In order to be able to set up all these additional stations, the federal and state governments should guarantee start-up funding limited to two or three years, demands the BCS. The aim of transport policy by 2025 must be that no household in city centers and locations close to the center lives more than 400 meters from a car sharing station, according to Nehrke.
The Federal Government’s Climate Protection Act provides for “zero emissions” by the year 2045 for the transport sector. According to calculations by the Federal Environment Agency, however, switching to electric drives can only save around half of today’s greenhouse gas emissions. So if you want to get to zero, you have to “drive the mobility transition massively,” says Nehrke.
Switching can also provide financial relief
Significantly more citizens than today would have to rely on a mix of environmentally friendly mobility options such as local public transport, bicycles, walking – whoever also needs a car now and then, for example for going on vacation or moving furniture at the weekend, would have to do it car sharing. “We are strengthening climate protection when car mobility for as many households as possible changes from a regular habit to a targeted option in a mix with other less environmentally harmful and inefficient means of transport,” says Nehrke. Such a mix is also financially much more attractive for each individual than owning their own motor vehicle. Car sharing is therefore “an important contribution to keep auto-mobility affordable and available for all citizens”.