[NEWS] e-mobility in the municipalities of Gorenjska

In the second part of 2020 municipalities in Gorenjska statistical region are facilitating the adoption of e-mobility.

At the end of September the municipality of Bled with Tourism Institute Bled tested an electric mini bus for a weekend to drive people around the lake free of charge. They would like to buy four such mini electric buses. However, since in total the cost would amount to half a million, the municipality will have to wait a bit before getting to this investment.

The city municipality Kranj is establishing an electric public bus lines within public-private partnership. They envisage 4 electric buses, 12 m long, with 350kW battery and two 150kW fast charging stations with Combined Charging System (CCS) plug. CCS plug is enabling charging for electric cars, vans and other similar vehicles. The wish is to establish the lines before the Slovenian European presidency next year, to connect the electric public transport to the protocol center Brdo near Kranj. The investment is evaluated somewhere around 2.8 million EUR.

Another project being implemented in the city municipality of Kranj is establishment of car sharing system within local public services and local public administration. The aim is to change the existing car fleet of over 150 vehicles with electric ones and at the same time optimizing the number of vehicles needed. A car booking system will be developed for the members of the car-sharing network to share the use of cars within 24/6-time frame. In order to be sustainable, photovoltaic panels are planned to be installed on the roofs of the municipal public buildings, where the cars will be charged and a number of domicile charging stations will be set up for this purpose.

Three municipalities in Gorenjska region in cooperation with other three municipalities in the neighboring statistical region are studying the feasibility of implementing electric mini buses on call for more flexible and user-friendly public transport service and multi-purpose use. The multi-purpose use is planned for utilization of vehicles in the low demand day periods, when the vehicles will be, among others, used to transport classic and electric bikes from one municipality to another. The municipalities are also cooperating to establish cross-municipal bike sharing system. The cooperation is targeting the planning of park and ride systems with electric charging points to accommodate users of electric vehicles and promote public transport.

Following the example of IONITY and TESLA, the need for setting up fast charging station areas near highways has also been identified in Gorenjska. Investments are planned in the near future, depending on the co-financing from the European funds.

The Regional Development Agency of Gorenjska, partner in e-MOPOLI project, is assisting some of the mentioned projects .