Masdar announced the commencement of an i-MiEV electric car pilot program that could potentially see the city move closer to its aim of being the world’s first carbon-neutral city.
Through the pilot, Masdar will test and validate the performance of electric cars and various charging solutions in the region’s climate conditions and patterns of car usage.
The pilot program will be a year-long exercise to test whether electric cars can be successfully integrated into the city’s transportation network.
In the first three months of the one year pilot, Masdar will deploy a fleet of 10 Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric cars. The EV fleet will join the already operational Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) cars, a system of electric-powered, automated, single-cabin cars that offer the privacy, comfort and non-stop travel of a transportation service, and the reliability of a public transport system.
Masdar City will work with various electric car manufacturers and a consortium of related technology providers to find new and improved ways to integrate sustainable transportation systems.