14 DAY TRIAL // While working to figure out whether or not artificial rain could help it solve its air pollution crisis, China is also doing its best to cut down on the amount of pollutants its fleet, plants and factories release into the atmosphere on a daily basis.
More precisely, the country is trying to get people to opt for eco-friendly cars such as EVs instead of vehicles powered by dirty fuels. To this end, the city of Hangzhou has opened a fairly large automated garage that works very much like a vending machine.
In fact, the difference between this garage and a run-off-the-mill vending machine is the fact that, whereas the latter “coughs out” snacks, sodas and the like, the garage dispenses EVs.
Specifically, the facility is home to 120 Kandi-brand EVs, all of which can be rented by the city's residents for about $3.25 (€2.36) per hour, Hybrid Cars tell us.
The vehicles can also be rented for one month. Costs vary from $130 - $160 (€94.5 - €116.3), and include insurance, maintenance and the electricity needed to recharge them.
The EVs available for rental at this garage can reach speeds of 50 miles per hour (roughly 80.5 kilometers per hour), and can cover a distance of up to 75 miles (nearly 121 kilometers) before they run out of power and need to be charged.
This means that, although they cannot be driven from one end of the country to the other, they are quite suitable for use in the city of Hangzhou.
The same source tells us that, in about four years’ time, 750 such garages will be up and running in this Chinese city. What's more, 50 of them are already under construction, and should be completed by next year's March.
The goal is to create a network similar to that of bike sharing programs. This means that folks will be able to pick up an EV from one garage and drop it off at another once they no longer have any use for it.