Back in 2014, if you wanted to charge an electric vehicle in Ibiza you had the grand total of ONE option: a charge point in Ibiza Town near the old clock. The typical refrain from Ibiza residents was “it never worked.”
In July 2015, Ibiza Green Car launched 10 Renault Zoes for rent. As Ibiza lacked public charging stations, it needed to provide its own fix with private ones at various country hotels. From this humble beginning, electric mobility began to grow on the island toward the end of 2015. Thanks in part to the leadership of Mobility Coordinator Gianandrea Di Terlizzi from the Consell, there are now public charging stations from San Juan to San José and towns in between. Electric Vehicles of Ibiza, a non-profit Facebook page, was founded in December 2015 with the purpose of helping to promote all types of electric mobility.
The end goal has always been to have BEV (Battery Electric Vehicles) powered by 100% renewable energy. The driving force behind this BEV initiative is the urgent call to remedy the ever worsening global climate change. Ibiza currently has 137,000 private vehicles eating up fossil fuels. The time to change the chip about how we drive is now, adopting the smaller carbon footprint of BEV.
The transition to BEV has not been without challenges. Many charging stations have had error codes and tripped circuit breakers. Disappointingly, residents have been resistant to considering e-scooters as a replacement to the highly polluting 49cc, two-stroke engines. Consumers are gradually learning that Ibiza is a BEV paradise. The demands for range and top speed are much less compared with the peninsula. Second-hand vehicles with less powerful batteries are more than adequate on this tiny island.
Forty percent of inhabitants have the ability to charge slowly at home when they sleep. There will be a need for around six solar-roofed, super-fast charging stations where drivers can get in and out in 10 minutes: the fuel station of the future.
Ibiza can’t possibly return to the nostalgic past of “sa mula i es carro” (mule & cart), but we can honour the Ibicencan ancestors by committing to transportation powered by the Isla Blanca’s ubiquitous rays of sun.
Two Wheels: Green Riders Ibiza
You want to go electric but need the buzz of open air two-wheel off-roading thrills? Green Riders Ibiza have you in mind. the lightest motorbike in the world at only 42kg, the lMX gives you the opportunity to discover off-road hidden gems and explore parts of the island other cannot reach without disturbing or polluting it! Green riders offer bike sharing schemes and their lMX 161 can travel 80km on a 2.5 hour charge, and the little bikes are sturdy enough to make it down the bumpiest camino!
https://es-es.facebook.com/greenridersibiza/
Four Wheels: Ducks United Ibiza
You may be familiar with the legendary citroen Mehari – a super-cool Bohemian feeling knockabout off-road beauty produced between 1968 and 1988. Well, now it’s back in electric form. You can see similarities with the original – like grandmother and granddaughter – because the ribbed door pattern and undulating lines of the e-Mehari are a nod to the design of the late sixties Mehari. Now you can rent an all-electric replica from Ducks United, and see the island in clean, old-school style.
