October 5, 2022 (Saint Paul, Minnesota) – Evie Carshare, the nation’s first 100% renewably powered, municipally-owned carshare network has logged nearly 25,000 trips by users in the first six months of operation, averaging more than one trip per vehicle each day.
“Residents told us that they needed more options to get to work, school, and family,” said Russ Stark, City of Saint Paul’s Chief Resilience Officer. “We’re pleased they are finding the new Evie Carshare so useful and affordable. We are looking forward to serving even more people as we add cars and Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations in the coming year.”
According to HOURCAR’s recent report “Results from the First Six Months of Evie Carshare,” use grew rapidly and steadily from the launch in February through July. Evie Carshare, which currently has a fleet of 100 electric vehicles also:
- Reduced an estimated 741 metric tons of greenhouse gas,
- Recorded that 33% of the total Evie Carshare usage was by Access PLUS members – a qualified low-income rate plan for households earning less than 50% of Area Median Income, and
- Saved Twin Cities residents an estimated $2,572,752 in transportation costs. Based on the “Usage by Very Low-Income Households” analysis above, we estimate 33%, or $849,008, was attributed to users from very low-income households.
“HOURCAR’s mission is to connect people to their communities while reducing congestion and harmful emissions,” said HOURCAR President and CEO Paul Schroeder. “We’re pleased with these early Evie Carshare results and are excited to continue building out the system.”
HOURCAR plans to add more than 40 electric vehicles in the next six months, increasing the current fleet to 143. They expect the total number of trips and miles to continue to grow; however, they anticipate the seasonal pattern of usage will slow during the winter months.
“We’re excited to be part of the Evie Carshare partnership,” said Margaret Anderson Kelliher, director of the City of Minneapolis’ Public Works Department. “This program provides another easy, green and affordable way to get around Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The early results of this carshare program are very promising and I hope more people test out an Evie soon.”
The EV Spot Network, a program that includes Evie Carsharing and 70 on-street public charging stations in the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, is still growing to its planned program levels. Supply chain issues have slowed implementation. By the end of 2023, the EV Spot Network is anticipated to be at full capacity with 175 electric vehicles for Evie Carshare and 280 level 2 charge ports, and 10 DC Fast Charge (DCFC) ports.
A map of all 70 EV Spot Charging locations can be found online here. As locations get installed and become operational, users can find active EV Spot Chargers at www.plugshare.com.
The cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis will continue to monitor and report on use, and work with residents to ensure that Evie Carshare improves access, improves equity, and reduces pollution in our community.
About Evie Carshare
Evie Carshare is part of the EV Spot Network, which was planned and implemented through a public-private partnership that includes the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, HOURCAR, Xcel Energy, East Metro Strong, and the American Lung Association. Evie currently operates 101 electric vehicles in a home area covering 35 square miles in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, supported by a network of 71 carshare chargers with 142 Level 2 charge ports.
###