Ridecell Inc.,a platform developer for carsharing and ridesharing operators, announced today it is providing the technology foundation for ZITY™, a new carsharing service in Madrid, Spain. Powered by Ridecell, ZITY is a collaboration between Ferrovial, a global infrastructure and municipal services company, and Groupe Renault, the top electric vehicle manufacturer in Europe. The Ridecell platform enables ZITY customers to download the ZITY app, sign up for the service, and start driving in just a few minutes—making it the easiest to use carsharing service in Madrid. Ferrovial and Groupe Renault join BMW, ŠKODA Poland VGP, and AAA as Ridecell marquee customers.

“Demand for new mobility services continues to gain momentum in Europe. The city of Madrid, which has Europe’s highest electric carsharing rate, represented an ideal market for us to launch an innovative new service,” said Javier Mateos, CEO of ZITY. “In selecting the technical infrastructure for ZITY, we chose Ridecell based on its state-of-the-art platform and its team of new mobility experts.”

The ZITY carsharing fleet is comprised of 500 Renault ZOE vehicles, making it the only carsharing service on the market that offers room for five passengers. In addition, the ZOE is the only mass-market electric car with a longer range (400km NEDC), allowing ZITY cars to be used for both short city trips and long weekend getaways. Fast battery charge times reduce vehicle downtime, leading to higher usage and availability. The ZITY service takes full advantage of the Ridecell platform, including end-to-end automation, instant driver verification, payment processing, scheduling, demand/supply balancing, fleet management, and custom analytics.

“Since ZITY exclusively uses Renault ZOE vehicles, it’s the first all-EV service with a 400km range in Spain. Furthermore, today, the electric vehicle is the only one that ensures zero emissions in its use,” said Luis Valerio, Electric Vehicle Director, Groupe Renault Iberia. “Ridecell’s advanced mobility platform gives us the advantage of ensuring the availability of the ZITY vehicles in locations where demand is the highest and helps in streamlining fleet management tasks such as rotating vehicles for recharging, cleaning, or repair.”

The Ridecell platform allows ZITY customers to quickly and easily sign up for the ZITY service with a simple app-based registration process. Users take a picture of their driver’s license and credit card, and receive full verification in a few minutes — the first of its kind in the market. The ZITY app then accesses all available vehicles in the service area. In addition to this smooth onboarding experience, the smartphone connection is Bluetooth-enabled, which means cars can be contacted and rented even in places where connectivity is poor like underground car parks.

“Our deep expertise and extensive success in launching new mobility programs for automotive OEMs and other new mobility providers makes Ridecell uniquely equipped to design and launch innovative carsharing offerings,” said Aarjav Trivedi, founder and CEO of Ridecell. “Madrid is a prime city for a one-way carsharing service, and ZITY addresses the much-needed demand for a convenient and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. We are thrilled to usher in this new era of mobility with Groupe Renault and Ferrovial.”