Energy, Estonia, Financial Services, Markets and Companies, Transport

The joint offer of 277,000 euros by the companies Parisvara OU, Aitkal OU and Bootspillow OU won an auction in which four bidders took part, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The starting price of the auction was 120,000 euros and the new owner of Elmo Rent must ensure continuation of the service for at least three years.

The ministry in April put up for public auction the electric car rental service developed as part of the Elmo electric mobility program along with 15 regular charging points and a fleet of 31 electric cars – 22 Nissan Leafs and nine Mitsubishi i-Mievs.

Elmo is a program for the introduction of electric cars and rechargeable hybrid cars launched by the Estonian government and Mitsubishi Corporation. The aim of the Elmo Rent service launched in 2013 is to showcase and popularize the use of electric cars and give people the possibility to get firsthand experience of driving an electric car.

According to the ministry, the program has fulfilled it main goal by now, as there are several electric car rental services on the market and the service developed by the state can be put on the free market. Besides, a network of fast charging points has been established and 1,200 electric cars have been acquired under the program.

The contract for the procurement of a network of fast charging points set up under the Elmo program expires at the end of this year and the ministry is planning to find a new owner shortly for that network too.

The program was carried out by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Kredex foundation.