Climate protection and environmental awareness are a priority at BUWOG Group – and not just in Austria, where we are a partner in the klima:aktiv programme and part of the klima:aktiv pakt2020, but also at our locations in Germany. In addition to measures in the areas of construction and refurbishment, BUWOG Group’s sustainability programme also includes company energy-saving measures. As an electric car (Renault ZOE) is already successfully used in our Austrian fleet, e-cars have now been purchased in Germany as well. Following an intensive planning period, the director of the building maintenance services division, Christian Neujahr, our fleet manager Kay Rosenberg as well as our building maintenance managers from Kiel and Lübeck have received three electric vehicles.
The e-cars are VW’s e-up! brand vehicles. The e-up! is powered solely be electricity and therefore emission-free. One special feature is the energy recuperation when braking. The electricity produced when switching from the drive motor to generator mode is fed into the vehicle battery and stored there for later use. According to manufacturer information, the e-up! consumes 211.7 kWh per 100 kilometres – hence just EUR 2.81 (at an electricity price of EUR 0.24 per kWh). Thus among electric vehicles it is one of the more efficient of its kind. Our trials have not been conducted yet, but with a fully charged electric car it should be possible to drive between 120 and 160 kilometres (depending on weather conditions, load, ground conditions and personal driving style). Thus is makes sense that we are using these cars primarily for our local building maintenance managers. There are currently two at the building maintenance facility in Lübeck and one at the building maintenance facility in Kiel. The relevant charging stations can also be found there. It takes approximately 6 hours before an e-car is fully charged.
Basically, the acquisition of new fleet vehicles always depends on a variety of factors and must be considered in various ways. It should be noted, however, that e-cars are suited primarily for city-centre operation and, because of their range, for only limited or no long-range driving.
At this point it is uncertain when additional e-cars will be added to the German fleet, but this was certainly not the last electric car purchase for BUWOG Group. At any rate, we are pleased that our driving is environmentally friendly and electric now in Kiel and Lübeck as well.
