Print media | FRA FLEETTES AUTOMOBILES
Journalist: Genolé Guimard
Edition: November 2024 P.34
Media family: Professional media
Periodicity: Monthly
Audience: 74000
Media subject: Auto-Moto-Cyclo
Car fleets: Electric carsharing is progressing slowly but surely
By Genolé Guiomard — November 2024, p.34
A quiver in corporate fleets
Business carsharing specialists are unanimous: the market is changing, even if the pace remains measured.
“An administration has just launched a call for tenders for its entire fleet of 540 vehicles. Five years ago, it would have required only twenty vehicles,” illustrates Olivier Rossinelli, managing director of Agi lauto Partage, a Crédit Agricole subsidiary specializing in electric car sharing.
The fleet and mobility barometer published by the Arval Mobility Observatory confirms this trend: in 2024, 25% of the companies surveyed were deploying or considering deploying carsharing solutions.
In most cases, these solutions remain complementary to the traditional fleet and are primarily motivated by the company's CSR policy (54% of respondents, i.e. 14 points more than the European average), but also by strengthening HR attractiveness (36%), improving the employer image (36%), improving the employer image (28%) and anticipating regulatory changes (26%).
Two models of carsharing in business
Today, two main forms of carsharing coexist in businesses:
- Pool carsharing : provision of vehicles (often electric) accessible to all employees.
- Shared car sharing : generally in the public sector, the entire fleet is shared and employees no longer have assigned vehicles.
“This development is slow but constant”, summarizes Daniel Vassallucci, director of the telematics company Optimum Automotive, which equips 200,000 vehicles. According to him, 15% of them were carsharing in October 2024, compared to only 5% in 2020.
Self-driving remains the majority during business trips
While vehicle sharing is progressing, the French still largely prefer to drive alone for their business trips.
The Ministry of Ecological Transition, in its July 2022 study “Travelling by car: alone, with several people or by carpooling ? ”, highlights that 88% of local business trips are made with a single driver, a figure that falls to 67% over long distances.
Self-driving is particularly dominant during the week, especially during morning rush hour (74%), while car trips with several people are more frequent outside of work hours, especially at weekends.
The obstacles to the development of carsharing
Despite the positive signs, carsharing is still marginal in France.
“Development is still weak, in particular because of a lack of awareness of the benefits by HR departments, a certain distrust of employees and complications related to insurance issues”, explains Moundyr Gainou, France director of Car Vertical, France director of Car Vertical, a specialist in vehicle data.
Jehan de Thé, president of the Association of Carsharing Actors, also points to a lack of public support: “We could better develop lanes reserved for shared vehicles. On this point, France is lagging behind Canada or Germany.”
However, he believes that technology, especially connected boxes, is now facilitating the sharing of fleets in companies, which should encourage faster development in the future.
Carsharing and electrification: a duo with a future
Sharing a fleet and electrifying it is perceived as the basic trend for businesses, even if the conversion is still slow.
The challenge remains first of all to convince companies by highlighting economic and ecological gains, but also to seduce users by extending uses to personal journeys.
In summary:
- The use of car sharing in companies is increasing, especially in its electric version.
- It is still a minority in the face of the dominant autosolism, especially for business trips.
- The obstacles are as much cultural (employee habits, lack of knowledge) as they are regulatory (insurance, infrastructures).
- The outlook is good, supported by technologies and CSR policies.
Gwenolé Guiomard
Print media — Fleets Automobiles
November 2024 — p.34
#covoiturage, #IA, #mobilité
