Good practice:

City mobility with SPARK

The intensive traffic is among the major emission sources and contribute for 40% to the air pollution in Sofia Municipality. The fleet electrification offers a potential for emission abatement, especially related to NOx and CO. A significant introduction of electric vehicles (26-40%) involving all vehicle categories is required to improve urban air quality.
SPARK offers a new generation service that allows the consumers to find and rent an electric vehicle no matter if it is for 15 minutes or a few days. After using the service, the car is left in one of the designated Spark areas in Sofia, including in the central part of the city, which is free for electric cars.. Mobile application provides access to the electric vehicles.
SPARK is active mainly in the Capital City of Sofia. The aim is to promote zero-emission transport solutions and contribute to responsible consumption. SPARK has a network of car charging stations, which are strategically located around Sofia near business offices, hotels and shopping centers. Eldrive charging stations are free for all SPARK users who have the opportunity to recharge their electric car in about three hours. Each of the charging stations has a minimum of two charging points to provide continuous placement and access for SPARK electric vehicles.
In terms of transport and mobility electrification and digitalization are there to promote new business models. Main stakeholders involved are Municipality of Sofia, Civil society,Businesses

Electrical vehicles and charging stations are the main assets of SPARK together with a well developed mobile application and a team of IT specialists. Starting in 2018 with 20 Volkswagen e-up!, in the autumn of 2020 the company operates more than 500 electric cars from different brands.

SPARK is the first car-renting and sharing company fully equipped with electric vehicles, offering affordable environmental solutions for getting around Sofia. The use of SPARK is charged per minute, which allows the customer to manage both their trip and expenses. SPARK also includes a wide network of charging stations in Sofia. At present, the company has about 500 cars. The number of customers is growing exponentially and in the first half of 2020 they have over 20,000 customers.

The biggest challenge with creating a new business model in mobility is the raising the consumer behavior. It is necessary to apply campaigns for awareness raising of the benefits for the environment and proper use of the services.

Because intensive traffic and air pollution in the big cities are common problem for many European cities, SPARK mobility service provides a good example of renting electrical vehicles that contributes to air pollution reduction and at the same time offering comfort to their clients. This product as a service solution is in use not only in Sofia but in other countries Lithuania and Romania which proves its global potential for transfer. The service provides customers with information about the sustainability benefits of using SPARK with their mobile application. This application helps customers in decision making and showing the sustainability of their consumer behavior.