“Ohmie” a startup for a better future
An Australian based startup company called Ohmie has now launched their first residential electric car sharing services which they call it as Australia’s first-ever. Earlier, the company was known as Symbiot Technology which specializes in smart home technology. It raised a seed funding around $ 1 million which included angel investors Artesian Ventures Partners and the EnergyLab Angel Syndicate.
Hyundai launched its new electric car named Kona electric SUV. To make most out of their newly launched car, they came into a partnership with Australian EV charging company JET charge to launch an initiative called “Ohmie Go”. The aim is to increase the adoption of more electric vehicles in Australia.
ICD property owned named EQ towers, is one of the largest residential buildings in Melbourne and the place where two Hyundai Kona will be installed in the parking area. All the residents living in the building can borrow the pair of the car either for an hour or for an entire day. They can do the booking of the car using their smartphones. The unique feature about the service is that they can return and charge the cars in their building’s underground garage. Within a month, the company is also planning to use renewable energy for charging cars.
However, the rent hasn’t been fixed for now but will be around $15 per hour and there will be no extra charge for distance covered. The rates are considered to be lesser than any budgeted rental car offering that is there outside the building, says Ohmie. Further, they added, they collect the data from their first launched of electric car service at EQ towers to check the business model, to increase the customer experience and also value creation for its developer clients. Currently, the car-share services which are there in the market charge between $8 and $14 per hour.
More bigger plans for the future
The company seems to have bigger plans, where they want to take Kona to other property owners as well and especially wants to target all the large residential building in the city.
In the upcoming future, the company wants to take the initiative a step ahead of where they want to experiment with some other forms of electric transports, such as electric motorbikes and scooters. They also want to increases their horizon from residential buildings to all co-working spaces, dedicated commercial buildings, and holiday resorts.
Washington says, “They share a common vision with Kyle’s company.”
The CEO of Ohmie, Kyle Bolto says, “Since the invention of the car, personal mobility has been continuously changing from entirely new ownership models, new multi-modal transportation methods, and now vehicles with self-driven technology.” “Services such as these provide you a car service without being burden with car ownership and the additional cost which comes with it. “
Tim Washington, the Founder of Jet Charge which is responsible for providing the charging stations says, “They have been waiting for years to team up with a company that recognizes EVs as being both a mobility and energy set.” Further, he added, “they share a common vision with Kyle’s company, where they both want to offer a leading car-sharing business using 100% electric vehicles and also use the same vehicle to support their electricity grid which maximizes the vehicle’s utilization.
