Good practice:

Self-service electric car TOTEM mobi

TOTEM mobi is a self-service electric vehicle rental service in Marseille available 24/7 with free parking. The service is accessible to all drivers holding a driving license and works via the TOTEM mobi mobile application. The vehicles, their range, and positions can be viewed on the application as well as the zones and stations where you can stop the rental and recharge the vehicles. Since March 1, 2020, offers 174 vehicles (target 600 vehicles in the long term) for hire and claims nearly 20,000 registered drivers (10,000 monthly rentals in 2019).

This service, implemented in Marseille, offers users a mobility solution combining public transport and a low-carbon and agile mode of mobility. The solution works as an alternative to a private car and meets the challenges of carbon emissions in urban centers. Moreover, the service aims to offer an alternative to public transport in locations where fewer options are available or when the network cannot meet the needs of the population: for example those who work outside office hours. TOTEM mobi has thereby integrated the issue of access to employment with that of access to mobility.
The regional authority, ERDF, and public banking sector supported this project. The project benefits from partnerships with local authorities.

At the start, the project needed very large financing for the installation of the vehicle fleet. It also requires a strong local partnership. It also requires a strong local partnership.

The implementation of the service in Marseille was a success: 20 000 drivers registered. An impact study, conducted in 2017, shows that 30% of TOTEM users have reduced their use of their personal car.

The economic model of the service can only be reached from a critical user threshold, which implies major investments from the start and a fairly long return on investment.

This service responds globally to the low carbon mobility challenges of urban centers. The economic model of this project is based on the one hand on the existence of a large supply of self-service vehicles in urban areas (short and long journeys) as well as on its complementarity with other soft mobility solutions (public transport, free bike access ...).
In this sense, the success of this type of project relies on a strong involvement of the local authorities responsible for urban transport.
Public support for this type of project seems necessary in the early stages of the project, indeed financial balance can only be achieved when the project reaches a critical number of users.