One place restrictions are not being relaxed, is the government's drive for more energy-efficient transport. From this week, tourists to Chongming Island will have one more choice to get to their destinations, with the Shanghai e-car sharing platform EVCARD's launch of its first batch of rental sites.
Shanghai e-car sharing platform EVCARD's launch of its first batch of rental sites.
Minhang resident Wang Shumin and his wife drove to Chongming Island for a day out today. Nothing new in that, but this time what took them there was an electric car rented from the city's EVCARD program.
"I usually drive my own car here. I used the rental program today, and it's much cheaper. It's 90 yuan for more than two hours' driving - 1/3 cheaper than driving my own car," said Wang Shumin, Shanghai resident.
For many potential EVCARD users, however, the range of the e-car is still a major concern.
The program operator says the current car fleet, which mainly consists of Chery EQ and Roewe E50 models, have a range of 200 kilometers and 120 kilometers respectively on a full charge - only enough for a one-way drive from downtown and a spin around the island.
"The distance from different places in Shanghai to Chongming varies greatly. Electric vehicles face a limit on their range. It's not a problem for a fully-charged car," said Cao Guangyu, Vice General Manager, Shanghai Int'l Automobile City Group.
"But if your car does run out of power, you can change to another one in the transit sites that we'll establish soon."
The number of rental sites on Chongming Island will grow to 170 by the end of this year. Most will link to tourist sites which currently may not be served by public transport.
So far, EVCARD has over 200 rental sites in the city's business districts and industrial parks. The program is expected to expand to the city's main transportation junctions at airports and railway stations in the first quarter of the year.
