Covid-19 has already had a profound impact on the way we travel in cities.

On one hand, the need for social distancing has prompted many cities to limit space for cars in favor of more space for people to walk and cycle. On the other, it has created huge challenges for mass public transport like buses and trains.

But shared e-mobility has weathered the drop in mobility demand better than most. And with vaccines paving the way for a gradual return to normality in 2021, shared e-mobility providers have a unique opportunity to shape the ‘new normal’ — especially when it comes to commuting.

As people prepare to return to offices in 2021, companies are partnering with shared e-mobility providers to offer their employees a free, safe, and eco-friendly way to get to work. Let’s take a look at why these partnerships are gaining popularity.

The state of commuting post-pandemic

The topic of coming back to the office has been causing tension between companies and employees for many reasons — and commuting is a big factor.

A recent IBM survey reports that 20% of regular public transport users now say they wouldn’t use it because of Covid-19, with another 28% saying they’d use it less often. This leaves privately owned vehicles like cars as the main alternative commuting option.

But in many cities, it’s simply not desirable, viable, or cost-effective to drive your own car to work every day. And while in America companies are incentivizing people to drive to work with free parking, in other places people overwhelmingly support a ‘green recovery’ from the pandemic towards a more car-free future.

The result of all this is clear: employees are missing a convenient, sustainable, and socially distanced way of commuting. That’s where shared e-mobility fleets come in.

A modern commuting solution for forward-thinking companies

To encourage people back to the office, big-name companies are partnering with their local shared e-mobility provider to give employees e-moped or e-bike rides to work. In exchange for a fee, employers can offer people subsidized rides, discounted memberships, or even free rides every day with the e-mobility service.

Employers benefit from this arrangement in a variety of ways:

• Free or discounted rides with an e-mobility service are a great perk that can help attract and retain top talent.
• Align your brand with green policy leadership, which is becoming more and more important.
• Contribute to government sustainability and clean air targets..
• Less employees getting stuck in traffic with their cars = a happier, more productive team.

With companies and organizations increasingly called upon to help their local areas become more sustainable, partnering with a shared e-mobility provider is a smart, simple way to do this. And on the other side of the partnership, mobility providers also have a lot to gain.

A new, stable source of revenue for shared e-mobility providers

While 2020 has been a tough year for mobility services in general, shared e-mobility has fared comparatively well. The long-term prospects for the micromobility industry in the wake of Covid-19 are very strong: McKinsey predicts that in the end, it’ll “emerge stronger from this crisis.” Clearly the need for sustainable mobility solutions is only going to increase.

In the meantime, a source of reliable, fixed income from B2B customers is exactly what shared e-mobility providers need. By partnering with big companies that employ a lot of people, they can also boost their rider count significantly and expose their brand to new audiences.

Barcelona-based eCooltra is a great example of a service that’s already benefiting from this kind of partnership. They run electric fleets in major cities across Spain, Italy, and Portugal, and have already partnered with companies such as Holaluz, Enel, and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

Companies can choose from a range of prices, starting at 11 euros/month per employee. In return, employees get 20 or 40 minutes of free eCooltra rides every day from Monday to Sunday. Cooltra CEO, Timo Buetefisch, sees this as the perfect solution for getting people back to work after the pandemic:

“Offering safe, sustainable and efficient mobility for workers is now a priority for companies that either can’t implement teleworking due to their sector, or have opted for a staff rotation system.”

With these types of partnerships already proving mutually beneficial, expect to see many more opportunities like this appearing as restrictions are relaxed throughout 2021.

Do you want to learn more about starting your shared micromobility service? We gather all our knowledge and best practices in our guide to launch your shared micromobility service.

How we help these partnerships happen

At ElectricFeel, we provide the software and expertise that powers successful electric fleets across Europe. We’ve developed features for our fleet management platform specifically to enable this type of collaboration between employers and shared e-mobility providers.

Employees can redeem their clean mobility perk in just a few seconds by entering a promo code.

ElectricFeel’s in-built offers tool allows shared e-mobility providers to easily create and customize a range of promos and discount codes. These codes are simple to share with businesses, which then give them out to employees who can redeem them in their mobile app.

With our help, our partners eCooltra and Pick-e-Bike are already making the most of this new business opportunity for shared e-mobility providers— and thousands of employees are enjoying sustainable, safe commutes.

Want to know more about how to make your fleet a success in 2021?

Get in touch now — we’d be happy to hear from you.