“We support the idea of sustainable and green transport and encourage other municipalities and Vilnius residents to do the same. Practice confirms that electric cars are a much more advanced solution that is more suitable for the present day – electric motors are durable, car operation is cheap, money on fuel is saved, and the air is not polluted. In addition, the municipality will build more charging stations for electric cars, these cars may be driven in the A lane and there are no parking costs,” says Julius Morkūnas, senior advisor to the director of Vilnius Municipality Administration.
Parking of electric cars with EV number plates is free in Vilnius, while the fee for parking electric cars with regular number plates is EUR 40 per year.
After purchasing new vehicles that use electrical energy, the municipality of the capital city will save approximately EUR 8,500 per year on fuel and repairs of old cars.
New electric cars purchased by the municipality of the capital city are functional and safe, they have a function for emergency braking in the city: a radar monitors the road ahead and, if there is an obstacle, notifies the driver by sound signal. If the driver does not react, the car applies the brake on its own. This system helps to minimise the consequences of traffic accidents or to avoid an accident altogether. The Car-Net function helps to drive a car by using a phone – the car owner can use his or her smartphone to monitor the temperature inside the electric car and the charge level as well as to view all information about the car: have any lights been left on, are the doors locked, etc. Viewing the car location is also possible while using Car-Net.
Volkswagen e-Up! will cover a distance of approximately 160 km on one charge. The electric motor of Volkswagen e-Up! is 18.7 kWh; charging the electric car by using a standard electrical connector takes from 7 to 9 hours, charging via the 3.6kW wall additional charge unit takes about 3 or 4 hours, and if a public fast charging station is used, the charging takes only 30 minutes.
Currently there are three public charging stations for electric cars in the capital city: at J. Lelevelio Str. 6 and in the underground parking lots in Gediminas Avenue and Tilto street, where two electric cars may be charged simultaneously.
The municipality of the capital city, in order to encourage the spread of electric cars in the city, develops the infrastructure for electric cars: in spring of the next year, at least five fast charging stations will be installed in the capital to allow recharging electric cars for free in only 25 minutes. It is planned that the stations will be installed in Gariūnų street, next to the crossroads of Molėtų highway and Mokslininkų street, next to the crossroads of Minsko highway and Liepkalnio street, at Nemenčinės highway 1 and Pilaitės avenue 31. The charging stations will be installed next to trunk roads to enable fast recharging of cars that are entering the city or leaving it. Modern cars can cover a distance from 100 to 250 km on average per one charge.
Today, there are about 250 private electric cars and electric cars of car sharing companies in the streets of Vilnius.
