Bosch Ready To Launch An Electric Van-Sharing Service

Bosch is preparing to launch an electric van-sharing service in German later this year.

The van-sharing service will initially be offered at hardware stores operated by toom, a subsidiary of German retail group Rewe, in Berlin, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Troisdorf, and Freiburg. Bosch will team up with German retailer Rewe to ensure all the hardware stores in question have electric vans available to rent.

Providing the vans will be Deutsche Post startup StreetScooter. The electric powertrains of these vans are already supplied by Bosch.

“Bosch is growing with digital services for urban mobility. A service for sharing electric vans has huge potential for growth,” Bosch’s president of the Connected Mobility Solutions division, Dr Rainer Kallenbach, said.

Charge spots for the small electric vans are in place at the hardware stores across major German cities. The automotive supplier wants to eventually expand its van-sharing service to other locations including furniture stores, supermarkets, and electronics stores. An electric scooter rental service dubbed Coup is already operated by Bosch in Paris, Berlin, and Madrid.

“Fully electric driving is ideal for urban mobility – whether that means downtown delivery traffic or individual mobility in major cities,” Kallenbach said.

Customers at the hardware stores in the aforementioned five German cities will be able to book an electric van on site from December 2018. The vans will be especially useful for customers who purchase stone slabs, plants, and other heavy items from the hardware stores.

“As a company committed to sustainability, we are always eager to constantly improve our contribution to environmental protection. We’re therefore very pleased that we can now offer our customers an eco-friendly way of taking their purchases home,” said toom managing director for finance and personnel Wolfgang Vogt.