Driving Ahead: SAP and MVV Focus on Electric Cars

SAP NEWSBYTE - September 15, 2009 - SAP AG and Mannheim-based energy company MVV Energie want to make the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region a beacon area for the use of climate-friendly electric vehicles. The two companies have joined forces in a project known as “Green Fleet,” in which they plan to include up to 100 electric vehicles in their car fleets. The electricity consumed by these vehicles will be entirely produced from renewable sources, resulting in an almost negligible carbon footprint.

MVV Energie will supply the green electricity used by the vehicles. The company is also building the infrastructure to charge the cars. The use of the cars will be managed with the help of a research prototype from SAP that will look at the specific requirements companies face in relation to electric mobility. It will examine, for example, parameters such as the length and duration of a planned journey, the car’s range and the charging points available along a route.

The “Green Fleet” project has resulted in the Rhine-Metropolitan region becoming one of two winners of the “Intelligent Networks, Renewable Energy, and Electric Mobility” competition organized by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. Around EUR 10 million in federal funds will be available until 2011 for this and a second project.