A cab company in Arad, a city in Western Romania, added five electric cars to its fleet, the first such ones to be in use in the country, Digi24 reports. The electric cabs run with the standard fee of the Taxi Verbiţă cab company, which paid EUR 150,000 to purchase the five new vehicles.

“We want to reduce pollution a bit […]. We want to be in line with other European countries, we are the first city in the country to introduce these cars. We hope to add as many as possible,” said Gabriel Grizak, the director of Taxi Verbiţă.

The cars, which are the Renault Kangoo ZE Electric model, have a 180 km autonomy and the battery charges completely in five hours, Adevarul reported. The cab company owns three charging stations for electric cars in the city, one of which can be used by the general public. A fourth charging station in Arad was installed by Kaufland, which has a national network opened in partnership with Renovatio.

Electric car purchases in Romania more than tripled last year, according to data from the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA). Almost 170 electric cars were bought in 2016, compared to 46 in 2015.

International retailers and several shopping centers have been among the first ones in the country to install charging stations for electric cars.

German retailer Kaufland opened last year a national network of charging stations in partnership with Austrian renewable energy producer Renovatio, and purchased its first fleet of electric cars. French retailer Cora installed in 2016 two charging stations in its stores in Bucharest and Constanta, in partnership with EV Connect. German supermarket network Lidl also opened its first charging station in a store in Dumbravita, Timis county, last year.

The Promenada Mall shopping center in Bucharest opened in 2016 two such stations, while Hungarian oil group Mol announced plans to develop its network of charging stations for electric cars, including in Romania. At the beginning of this year, energy distributor Electrica and oil and gas producer OMV Petrom inaugurated the first charging station for electric cars in an OMV gas station in Bucharest.

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editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo: Taxi Verbita Facebook Page)