Although Mazda hasn’t exactly embraced the world of electric vehicles – rare Tribute Hybrid notwithstanding – the company has said it intends to rapidly greenify itself. To that end, it announced today that it will collaborate with the city of Tsukuba, Japan, to test out a car sharing network of electric vehicles based on the Demio, or Mazda2, platform.
The company will provide a trio of electrified Demios (sold outside of Japan as Mazda2s) set to be converted to electric vehicles by Itochu Corporation. The trio of Demios will use rapid chargers, fixed battery stations and solar panels as part of a small car sharing service test run.
The company says it will make the first ever Japanese test of reusing electric vehicle batteries at fixed battery stations. The batteries will feature remote battery monitoring technology.
Mazda says that the car sharing will use a contactless smart card payment system for both the cars and the rapid chargers. The vehicles will be based at a series of convenience stores in Tsukuba. It’s unclear if the network will grow beyond the three Mazda test cars, however.
