Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

The zero-emission Nissan LEAF is at the heart of an innovative new car-sharing scheme in the Canadian city of Montreal.

Some 20 Nissan LEAFs now form the fleet of Auto-mobile, the country’s first 100 per cent electric one-way car-sharing service. Based in the famous Le Plateau-Mont-Royal area of the city, the cars can be hired by citizens to make quick trips or longer journeys around the borough, all emission-free.

The whole process is fully automated. Anyone who’s signed up for the car-sharing scheme can discover where the nearest car has been left by using an app on a smart phone. Access to the car is then via an OPUS charge card which is used by all transit companies throughout the Great Montreal area.

The car can be hired for a few minutes, a few hours or even by the day. And to make the scheme even more attractive, every LEAF in the scheme has a universal parking permit allowing it to be left almost anywhere.

“The environmental gains could be very significant… if this service replaces gas-powered (petrol or diesel) vehicle trips (and) if users get rid of their second car,” says Daniel Bouchard, head of campaigns at the Conseil régional de l’environnement of Montreal.

Learn more about Auto-mobile (in French)

Watch the video below (French) for more information: