Car-sharing now available in Batumi

Batumi is the second city of Georgia where electric vehicle sharing service will be available today. Chairman of the Government of Adjara Tornike Rizvadze and Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze attended the presentation at Batumi Boulevard together with the population.

“We are pleased that electric car sharing service will be introduced in Batumi after Tbilisi tomorrow, a service that is very popular in all the leading cities of the world,” - PM of Georgia stated in his speech at the presentation of the project by “AiCar” company in Batumi.

The head of government said that besides Tbilisi and Batumi electric vehicle sharing service will be introduced in other cities as well.

“Our stated priority is the green economy, which serves the goal of overcoming the most pressing challenge facing our population - poverty. We are focused on implementing projects that will help us achieve this most important goal.” – stated PM.

He also remembered the skepticism around this idea from the side of opponents, announcing: “Today I can boldly say that Georgia is a producer of these high-tech products. Georgia is already building an electric-cars factory, a solar panel plant, the main market of them besides Georgia will be the EU. That is, we are becoming the exporting country of high-tech products, which was unimaginable several years ago,” Mamuka Bakhtadze said.

PM also thanked AiCar and AiGroup, since they will carry out an innovative and ambitious project of construction of a power plant in Kutaisi. “I am particularly pleased that from 2020 our citizens will be able to use electric cars made in Georgia. Moreover, this factory is conceived that we will launch electric cars designed in Georgia for the first time and this will be a truly unique result,” noted Bakhtadze.

Here it should be also noted, that the designer of cars, that are to be produced in Kutaisi, Zviad Tsikolia wrote on the social network, that the name of the first brand of electric cars made in Georgia is already known. According to him, the brand will be called “Orvo”, which in Old Colchic means 8, infinity. Author of the idea is Giga Khatiashvili.

An industrial complex will be built in Kutaisi, which will cover 100 hectares. The first project of a power plant will employ about 300 locals in the initial phase and will launch 5,000 electric vehicles within first18 months.

According to the Prime Minister, such projects, along with the national idea and priority that is education, will be the main basis for Georgia to be dignified in the 21st century.

AiCar has brought 20 electric mobiles of Renault to Batumi, name of the model is Zoe. The company has already installed 8 electric stations on the territory of Batumi Railway Station, while two power stations were installed in Kobuleti. The number of these stations is said to increase daily. Making use of electric motors will be possible in Sarpi-Ureki area. Booking and leaving them will be available only in the parking area of Batumi.

Back in June 2019 Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava announced that Georgia is striving to become a leader in terms of green economy and replace its “environmentally outdated” car fleet with new electric cars in the next 10 years.

Last year the government launched a program called “Green Policy – Eco-friendly Transport”, aimed at developing environmentally friendly transport in the country.