THE CITY OF ROME AND ENEL WORK TOGETHER FOR SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY

One hundred and fifty intelligent recharging points for Roman drivers who have put themselves forward for the capital’s pilot scheme, the first one of its kind in Italy, setting the trend for the rest of the world

Rome, September 30th, 2009 – The dream of having electrical cars in Italy – the “E-mobility Italy” project – becomes a reality, and it’s all starting in Rome, thanks to the protocol agreement which was signed today by the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, and the CEO and General Manager of Enel, Fulvio Conti. An agreement which will bring the first network of intelligent electric recharging points to the capital: 150 points will be spread across the city, at least 100 of which will be accessible to anyone in public places while the other 50 will be available for private use.

A valuable boost to efforts to improve the quality of life in the capital, allowing Rome to make a further valid contribution to combat both noise and air pollution. According to Enel’s estimates, if at least 15% of the cars used in the city were electric, this would save more than 260,000 tonnes of CO2 – the greenhouse gas which is the main cause of climate change – a year, as well as reducing other pollution significantly.

For this reason, the City of Rome has decided to promote solutions and systems to encourage sustainable mobility and, specifically, electric mobility. The latter provides opportunities for countless applications for city-dwellers: two-and four-wheel private travel, public transport, logistics and fleet management.
The scope of the agreement signed today is therefore about more than just reinforcing the existing electrical recharging service (11 stations, 40 “pumps”, equivalent to 96 free recharging points for scooters and motor vehicles) and introducing a support network for private consumers to encourage the use of green transport: it’s also about promoting the expansion of the service over time to include non-conventional public transport (car sharing) and to create solutions specifically for the commute between home and the workplace.

People will first have the chance to use electrical recharging pumps in the capital in September 2010 once locations have been found which are suitable for Roman drivers, on the basis of studies by Enel and the technical offices of Atac – Rome’s transport agency – looking into the city’s urban features, the needs of users, traffic flow, transport regulations in force and public transport features.

As a result of this experimental phase and the information collected, Enel will produce an advanced service system to meet the real needs of drivers, finally making it possible to develop and use electric vehicles and cutting-edge recharging infrastructures which will be tried and tested in the pilot scheme. The system will mean that people can recharge their vehicles at home (in their garage) and in public places, offering users easy-to-use and convenient solutions based on the innovative system of remote network management which is the only one of its kind in the world, installing 32 million remotely operated electricity meters in the homes of the power company’s customers.