Innovation

The innovation EMIL, an abbreviation for "E-Mobility in Lautern” (Lautern is the short form of the city Kaiserslautern), is a local car-sharing system founded in 2019 by SWK. The Stadtwerke Kaiserslautern, or short SWK, is the city's local energy, water, and heat supplier. In addition, SWK also manages the local public transportation systems. The company continuously works on new solutions and technological innovations to positively impact the city's operations and the residents of Kaiserslautern. EMIL is an excellent example of one of these innovations.

We met with Ms. Lisa Lebeck, product manager at SWK and project owner of the EMIL innovation, for an interview. Since January 2022, EMIL has been led by Ms. Lebeck. The interview gave us valuable insights into EMIL's innovation approach and benefits.

During our interview, she stated that in 2019 the project EMIL started with only five cars and the concept of introducing an environment-friendly alternative mobility solution that would improve the quality of life for the city's residents. In the following years, 2020 and 2021, another vehicle was added to the firm.

EMIL has seven fully electric cars and plans to buy three more for the coming year. In Kaiserslautern, there are seven locations where customers can pick up an EMIL car. These are widely distributed throughout the city, making them easily accessible for customers at Kaiserslautern from any point in the city. Ms. Lebeck told us that the company is in the process of setting up another location in Waldfischbach-Burgalben, which is about 25 km away from Kaiserslautern. The car for this location was already ordered and will arrive shortly. This setup will give people from this region, even those who live outside Kaiserslautern, the opportunity to use EMIL conveniently and hopefully add some new customers.

The EMIL system runs with the help of the EMIL App, supported by the app provider Moqo. The App helps users book efficiently and also operate cars in keyless mode. The App has simple instructions to install and is easy to use. Customers can choose between electric vehicles from different manufacturers. The company offers the following car models: two BMW i3, two VW e-Golf, a Hyundai IONIQ, an e-Smart, and an Opel Corsa.

Ms. Lebeck said there are no future plans to work with a specific manufacturer. This will allow customers additional flexibility to test cars from different manufacturers. Also, there is no price difference between the various car models.

A service company developed a custom white label for these car models to support the labeling efforts. The company Moqo is also collaborating with SWK for some of the operations though the primary tasks are performed by SWK in-house, as Ms. Lebeck stated. Moqo provided the necessary customer service only on weekends and holidays. Furthermore, Westpfälzische Nahverkehrs-Service GmbH (WNS), a subsidiary of SDK, is working with the company. The subsidiary is responsible for repairs, towing services, and vehicle technical support.

The innovation aims to offer sustainable alternatives in the transportation sector. It provides people who do not own or need a car for themselves an alternative to public transport or car-sharing companies that only offer fossil fuel-based vehicles. Especially in cities, most places can be reached by foot or by public transport systems. For areas that are difv as ficult or impossible to access without a car, EMIL offers people in Kaiserslautern and the surrounding areas the option to rent an electric vehicle quickly and easily for any period. The focus is to give these people an alternative mode of transportation by offering cars perfect for driving in the city in or around Kaiserslautern. However, using charging stations in the vicinity makes it possible to access longer distances. With EMIL, SWK wants to attract public attention to this innovation and demonstrate how vital sustainability is for the company and society.

Inspiration

SWK wants to leverage the current trend in increasing customer demand for electric mobility solutions through B2B and B2C business models. Residents of Kaiserslautern will need a change in mindset. “Stadtmobil was another car-sharing company in the city before us, but that company only had gasoline-based cars. We want to advance electric mobility innovation, and how would that be better possible than with EMIL?” Lebeck states. But the shift to electric cars is not the only factor for EMIL's growth. The driving force here is the need to solve everyday issues related to transportation for the city's residents. Topics include - not finding a parking lot, having a limited budget to own a car, not having good use for a vehicle, needing a car to transport more oversized items, and needing to be more independent or drive a nice car.

Car sharing provides a standard solution for these issues, but sustainability is also important. Lebeck summarizes: “(…) cars are not required, especially in the city. Most places are within walking distance or easily reachable by bus. For special services, people can take a vehicle from EMIL. It is all about saving the environment."

Overall impact

As a car-sharing service, EMIL provides the opportunity to advertise the benefits of renewable energy and is also an additional source of revenue for SWK. The car-sharing application has low maintenance costs and is popular with customers. Ms. Lebeck said that the customers appreciate this alternative mobility solution provided by SWK. “Since we have EMIL, more and more people will decide against buying a car because they say they can use the bus inside the city for their daily business and for the time they need a car, for example, shopping for groceries, they can simply take an EMIL.”, she says.

The innovation could change the transportation systems and resources in the city and the region. For example, the residents could rely on EMIL if they need a car for transportation instead of owning personal vehicles. Therefore with time, there will be fewer cars owned by people, reducing the parking requirements in the city.

This is a big deal because, as the numbers provided by the German Federal Environment Agency show, private cars are parked more than 95 percent of the time and are only used for less than 5 percent. This means in a day, a car is, on average, only used up to one-hour maximum.

A society that relies on sharing modes of transportation will be much more effective and efficient with their resources and, therefore, more sustainable. The environment, so to speak, the city and the nearby region will benefit long-term from less pollution caused by gasoline-powered traffic. This is a practical step toward reaching the SDG 11 goal of Sustainable cities and communities. This initiative will also make the city a more attractive place to live with cleaner air, less noise pollution, and traffic congestion.

The short-term effects of this innovation are the increasing awareness among residents that they can rely on local public transportation, and for all other needs, they can pick a car from EMIL. Therefore, they do not need to invest in personal vehicles anymore. In the long run, most city residents will not need to travel using private vehicles if they do want to. Instead, the city will transform into a more sustainable, greener, and healthier place with less traffic and a better quality of life. To reach this goal, the residents must take conscious steps to change their lifestyles.

The impetus for this innovation is a lifestyle choice dependent on the individual's preferences. But based on the latest customer feedback, the changes are already taking place and are starting to happen more often. Ms. Lebeck says that the positive feedback she gets from customers makes her happy, and the company will continue to expand as long as there is demand for electric cars. As a result, there are plans for more stations for EMIL cars to be available.

Business benefit

The first benefit for the business is related to brand promotion through the different charging stations with the EMIL and SWK logos, improving customer outreach and brand value. EMIL is also a profitable and self-sustaining company. The increasing popularity of EMIL cars provides evidence of its success and makes expanding EMIL and the new car-sharing stations possible. Not only will the demand for EMIL cars increase, but the people who decide against owning a personal vehicle will also become loyal customers of the transportation system in the city. Furthermore, there is a third business benefit: people who rely on daily commuting can get used to using electric vehicles through EMIL, which could lead to them buying electric cars. These people might probably become customers of the original business of the SWK as an energy supplier and use its green electricity to charge electric vehicles. Therefore it is clear that this innovation has multiple financial benefits, which also makes outlining quantitative outcomes very challenging.

Social and environmental benefit

The social benefits can be realized only with a change in the individual mindset related to environmental impact. Nowadays, our society is shaped by individualistic needs, especially regarding mobility. Most people are used to owning their vehicles. This radical innovation can transform our society into a more social, shared community. The shared mentality can be scalable across geographies and regions.

Sharing is often seen as a goal for sustainable communities and will significantly influence our global environmental goals regarding mobility and other aspects of the economy. Once the sharing mentality has become a regular part of a community, it will transfer to different aspects of our society, like food, clothing, and other categories, which are huge parts of our daily lives. The innovation will have a visible impact on the city by replacing many cars with electric vehicles and reducing the number of vehicles on the streets. As a result, air and noise pollution will be reduced.

Interview

Lisa Lebeck, product manager