e-Cooltra

A. The main facts about the activities of the company.

What is e-Cooltra?

e-Cooltra is a sharing-economy company that rents electric motorbikes in some of the main cities of southern Europe. The company started in Barcelona and now is operating also in Madrid, Lisbon and Rome.

How does e-Cooltra work?

The company has two main tools: the app and the motorbikes.
The app, even not being excessively fast, is functioning well. It includes a map with all the relevant information, a person needs to enjoy the ride, as for example, the location of the motorbike and the charge that is left in it, in order to avoid negative surprises during the trip.
The screen is attached to the electric motorbike. With a very solid quality and look, it provides a good driving experience for both, new and advanced users. Under the seat, people can find two helmets in two different sizes (medium and large). The cost of the service is 0,24 € an hour, plus a responsibility assumed by the consumer, such as fines or accidents that could occur during the ride.

Why did we choose this company?

We thought that one sector most damaging to our environment is fuel based transportation. As the research is not at the level of environmental damage exemption yet, it should be put in the focus. This kind of sectors can be very valuable for our future if the grow in the right way. We felt that it was a good action to expose one of the companies that is really trying to raise awareness for the community and the environment. Furthermore, E-Cooltra, a Catalan company, that even not being very big yet, is starting to make an impact and we want to emphasize the local support we give. We strongly believe that a higher consumption of this service, instead of the traditional ways of transport has a positive influence on the world.

B. The Ethical challenges this company is addressing.

Lisbon, Rome, Madrid and Barcelona are four of the most polluted cities in Europe. Rome, Lisbon and Barcelona are the three cities with most motorbikes in Europe.
Even if e-Cooltra does not define itself as a social business organization, here we can clearly see that the interest of the firm in terms of profit matches with some of the social and environmental needs of the people.

Environmental needs

The contribution of e-Cooltra to a clean transport is one of the top advantages of the company, even if the few motorbikes they have today do not allow them to have a big impact in the co2 emissions. Also we should take a look to the importance of their activity in the popularization of the electric motorbike, a sector that is growing in the last years, and could be a key to the clean air in some of the most polluted cities around the world.
In conclusion, e-Cooltra, even making small contributions to a big cause, is working in the right direction to make the clean transport the regular ones in the cities.

Social needs

Few years ago, only the people with a certain economic status were able to move around the city in motorbike or car, today with the new trends in collaborative and sharing economy things have changed. Companies like e-Cooltra had tackled a relevant social problem, the lack of access to some ways of transport by an important part of the society. With these new trends, people do not need to invest a big amount of money to own the motorbike to ride on it. Also the users must not have to worry about recharging the battery of the motorbikes. They solely have to pay attention to how much they drive with the bike, which in our opinion indirectly helps the customer to think more critically. Questions that he now raises will be those of how much he actually requires using the bike. Also it is going to raise the question, if it is better to walk or take the scooter. When owning a scooter yourself, you tend to become lazier, while with this business model, the component of cost awareness helps to prevent unnecessary rides!

C. What makes you believe this company is really ethical and why you trust it?

The easiest way to answer the origin of our trust it’s word-to-mouth. We have heard from many people who is happy with the service, and being satisfied with electric motorbikes are really good news for a sector that could be really important for a sustainable transport in the future.
Also, part of or trust is built on the answer the company provides to our little doubts, for example the origin of the motorbikes electric energy. This electricity comes from Holaluz, a 100% renewable source energy company; actually this energy is also used to power the vans that transport the scooters.
In addition, the introduction of collaborative economies in some of the main cities in Europe can provide some hope to believe, that soon there will be a more sustainable consumption in more sectors in this countries.

D.The possible challenges facing the company in the future and how you think this company may improve.

The main challenge e-Cooltra will face, and right now is facing, is how to make people trust in their service. Some cities like Madrid have been using collaborative consumption services for some time, such as Car2go and Emov. But in other cities like Barcelona there is still no such philosophy or belief that collaborative services are effective, and for the company it is been hard to start operating effectively.
So they will have to face this fact, people are start moving to a sharing economy so e-Cooltra is trying to position there. The key aspect to attract new clients and to conscience about how important is to use ecological and collaborative services is patience. Is a long term move, so they don’t have to become anxious or nervous because as many other business is a long term investment with a slow process of penetration. If they keep doing things like they are doing now, the success and the people awareness of the brand and how important are green energies will arrive.
Another challenge in the near future is to expand their services in a longer territory. So they will have to buy more bikes and try to make people in the new territories aware of our brand and our philosophy.