Formentera places its bets on sustainable transportation

This morning in press conference, the councilor of Tourism, Commerce and Transport of the Formentera Island Council – Alejandra Ferrer – presented the latest developments in sustainable transportation, part of a plan aimed at promoting the use of electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles are an extremely apt solution for the XXI century, in a time in which concerns for pollution are creating a sort of green consciousness among the population. Vehicles of this sort are increasingly looked to as an option in clean transportation. Their operation based on renewable energies – for example, solar – means their environmental impact is nought, aside from also managing to obtain a level of zero-pollution by generating neither smells nor noise.

For this reason and towards a promotion of these non-polluting vehicles, the Formentera Island Council has been working for some time with the island's rent-a-car agencies to develop incentives to these agencies' incorporation of such vehicles into their fleet, be they scooters, automobiles or bicycles. Thus, the Office of Transportation has moved forward with software upgrades for the recharge spots, assisting in the collection of user information and other useful information.

Several local companies have already invested in sustainable transport. For example, Cooltra motos has 40 electric scooters, Proauto has 4 two-seat electric cars, Autos Formentera and Emobile have 130 electric bicycles and 2 high-end electric cars by Hyundai and anticipate the forthcoming incorporation of 10 more high-end cars, this time by Renault Leaf.

Companies that include electric vehicles in their business models are ever more frequent, especially since the spirit of conservation and the environmental characteristics present on the island favour a zero-emission model of sustainable mobility. Formentera's Office of Mobility has been contacting local business associations to encourage more establishments to participate and install more recharge spots across the island. The goal is to facilitate the incorporation of electric vehicles for rent-a-car companies as well as their use by tourists.

More importantly, the use of electric vehicles has a great deal of advantages for users, like free access to the Ses Salines Natural Park, reduction of the circulation tax or the give-away of recharging cards. The www.formentera.es tourism website hosts up-to-date information about all the companies that offer this service, as well as information about the location of recharge points.

The Council of Formentera was one of the parties behind the promotion of electric vehicles on the island, pushing for the installation of 14 new recharge spots, which brought the total to 26 and created a pioneering electric vehicle recharging network in Spain.

Such spots are incorporated with the latest technologies and ready for access with prepaid cards obtained upon purchase or rent of the vehicle. For instance, within each recharge station is a specially-designed device that stores use-information for that station, allowing a tracking of recharge frequencies among users of the network.

The Office of Mobility's goal in transportation is to move towards a model of mobility that is more sustainable, less polluting and one that is accessible for the local population and tourists alike, so that all of us can contribute to a more sustainable Formentera. Sustainable transportation is a goal for the administrative team, especially considering Formentera's geographic characteristics and the short distances on the island that facilitate this kind of activity. It is steadily becoming a wager that rent-a-car companies are willing to make. The cost of driving an electric car 100 kilometres is 1 euro.