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1. 1/17/12 How an electric car scheme plans to drive down social divisions | Society | The Guardian
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How an electric car scheme plans to
drive down social divisions
A public mobility project with a social purpose – Britain should
sign up now, says Randeep Ramesh
Randeep Ramesh
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 January 2012 16.59 GMT
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Could an electric car scheme be adopted in cities throughout Europe? Photograph: Hiriko
When José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, launches the
Hiriko electronic car next week, he aims to answer a question being asked by much of
the rest of the world: after the euro, what is the continent for?
The electric vehicle, developed in Spain, aspires to transform city transport, doing for
electric cars what London's "Boris bikes" have done for pedal cycles. The idea is that a
local authority owns a fleet of Hiriko cars and rents one to people when they need it –
for a small fee. Hiriko's hi-tech, on-board computers will mean that all the cars are
instantly located by a smart phone, so they can be left anywhere, and the electric
batteries mean they have zero emissions.
Both London's bike scheme and Hiriko are "public mobility solutions". Both are green
transport. But the big difference between them is that whereas London's project
involves a £190m contract to a private company, Serco, to supply and run the scheme,
the European Union will adopt Hiriko's "social purpose" model. The car will be built
exclusively in the deprived areas of cities that take up the scheme. And the technology
will be owned by a social enterprise, with private sector companies often getting
involved for free because they view the Hiriko as a test bed for the future – while
Madrid funded the Hiriko project with !15m (£13m), Spanish company Maser-Mic
spent !3m of its own money on the car's "sat nav" system. Each car costs !12,500.
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2. 1/17/12 How an electric car scheme plans to drive down social divisions | Society | The Guardian
The real insight of Hiriko is that it aims to change the way we live and do social good at
the same time. It's worth noting that the first city to trial Hiriko will be Malmö,
Sweden's third largest city. While Nordic countries are often cited as models of happy,
equal, cohesive nations, officials in Malmö have long been concerned about the growing
divide between the east and west parts of the city. It's not that Malmö is poor – the
former industrial powerhouse has become a centre for architecture and design. But
while the city has got richer, its social indicators have gone into reverse.
Civil servants were aghast to find pollution and carbon dioxide levels rising at a time
when child poverty in the city was growing. It's a combustible mix. In Rosengård, an
immigrant-rich, employment-low part of west Malmö, there have been clashes
between local youths and police since unrest in 2008. Last April, cars and recycling
stations were set alight, while firefighters who attempted to put out the fires were
pelted with stones and fireworks.
To generate jobs and clean up the city, Malmö's council will purchase three Hiriko cars
to test the new form of transport. The idea is that by building them in Rosengård a
whole system of support industries (such as designing apps for the on-board computer)
will spread in poor areas.
Hiriko's creators believe it is a solution to environmental and social problems –
bridging deepening social divides. After Malmö, the plan is to introduce the car in
Berlin, Barcelona, Vitoria-Gasteiz (the second largest Basque city), San Francisco, and
Hong Kong. There have been exploratory talks with London. "London would be a great
city. It has the bicycle rental scheme, the congestion charge ... London's large, rich with
deprived areas," says Carlos Fernandez Isoird, Hiriko's technical co-ordinator.
Hiriko's advantages are clear: whereas most companies have a short-term outlook, it
sees a future transformed in 10 years' time. It's a "green shift" that creates jobs –
breaking the link between economic progress and growing carbon dioxide emissions.
This is one instance where Brussels leads, and Britain should follow.
Randeep Ramesh is the Guardian's social affairs editor.
© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
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