Bosch Launches EV Mobility Service
Bosch is partnering with a German retail heavy hitter to enter the electric van and MaaS sectors.
The automotive tech giant is launching an EV hire service at branches of Rewe’s toom home improvement subsidiary, where it claims there is heavy demand for spacious vans that can accommodate big, bulky purchases. The move follows Bosch’s announcement last month that it has entered into an EV tech knowledge-sharing agreement with automaker Byton, and its use of electric engines for its van-sharing and scooter rental services. The toom rental vans will be equipped with powertrains supplied by Bosch.
Bosch president of connected mobility services Dr Rainer Kallenbach said: “Bosch is growing with digital services for urban mobility. A service for sharing electric vans has huge potential for growth”. He also claimed: “Fully electric driving is ideal for urban mobility – whether that means downtown delivery traffic or individual mobility in major cities”.
toom managing director of finance and personnel Wolfgang Vogt added: “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”.
The scheme will be trialed at toom stores in Berlin, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Troisdorf and Freiburg, where charging points have apparently been installed by StreetScooter. Bosch says it plans to expand the program to other retail outlets if the trial run at toom is successful.
