Above photo: Detroiter Loretta Powell takes an electric vehicle carshare to runs an errand. Planet Detroit.
The Eastside Community Network in Detroit is offering residents an affordable electric vehicle rental service.
It’s part of a broader initiative to enhance mobility in underserved areas.
As Loretta Powell settled into the driver seat of the Chevy Volt, she gave herself a few seconds to get acclimated to the vehicle’s settings before pressing the blue power button located behind the steering wheel.
It was the second time the Detroit educator was behind the wheel of an electric car. The first time she drove the Volt, she recalled, was “nice and smooth.”
“You couldn’t tell you were driving; it was very quiet and peaceful,” said Powell, as she backed out of the parking lot at community development organization Eastside Community Network‘s Stoudamire Wellness Hub. Like most electric vehicles, it emits an angelic hum as it reverses.
Since April of this year, Eastside Community Network has offered east side residents like Powell the opportunity to rent an electric vehicle stationed at its community hub.
“This is another option for accessible, affordable, and sustainable transportation for folks in the community,” Arena Johnson, equitable mobility coordinator for ECN, told Planet Detroit. “It’s been helpful for folks that may not have cars or those who want to do quick errands or longer distance traveling within the state.”
ECN is one of three host sites in Detroit for the Affordable Mobility Platform, a national EV carsharing project run by Forth and Mobility Development that aims to expand access to electric vehicles for underserved communities across the country. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technology Office funds the program.
“We’re addressing a systemic problem by partnering with affordable housing developments and local partners to pilot a model to benefit all communities,” said Connor Herman, program manager for Forth, in a press release when the project launched in late 2023.
“The [Affordable Mobility Platform] program will increase access to electric vehicles across Michigan for BIPOC and lower-income neighborhoods, which typically bear the brunt of transportation emissions, congestion, and noise pollution.”
Electric vehicle rentals at an affordable price
At $5 per hour or $50 a day with auto insurance covered, residents can rent a car to address their immediate transportation needs, particularly in a city with an unreliable public transit system, limited access to a car or shuttle service, and patchy walk and bike paths.
According to Johnson, the carsharing service fits into ECN’s broader climate equity work. Over the past decade, this work has brought together local residents, officials, and technical experts to advocate for climate-friendly policies, infrastructure development, and community education.
“The lack of good transportation infrastructure is a barrier,” Johnson said, noting that residents have widely discussed the professional and personal challenges of late buses, broken or overgrown sidewalks, and a lack of bike paths and bus shelters.
“It’s not just about cars, but really how pedestrians and all folks can get around.”
Since last fall, the organization has run a monthly working group to field concerns and solutions from residents and mobility enthusiasts. Most recently, ECN awarded Community Mobility Grants to residents for brainstorming projects that “create a more equitable, accessible mobility network in our community.”
On a brief afternoon drive to Kroger, Powell, who was among the first ECN members to test drive the electric vehicle, said the expansion of programs like the Affordable Mobility Platform could improve citywide air quality.
Whether it’s assisting the National Weather Service in monitoring rainfalls on the east side or operating a community garden out of the lot adjacent to her home, Powell is invested in her community’s various environmental and social needs.
The first time she rode in the Volt was shortly after she had to bring her all-white Dodge Caravan to the auto shop for repairs. That left her carless for about two weeks, during which time she had to actively search for alternative transportation.
“This is very important to our community because when issues happen like that, it can be a hardship when you have to pay so much money for your vehicle, or you have to ask someone to drop you off at work or figure out how you will get to work or your doctor’s appointment,” she said.
“If you take an Uber, that’s a lot of money back and forth for a car ride that may only last a few minutes, compared to you can have this car the whole day for that amount of money, or two days, or however many days you need before you can get your car repaired.”
Johnson said that as ECN continues to pique community interest in electric vehicles, it hopes to turn the Stoudamire Wellness Hub into a “mobility hub,” providing residents with various transportation options such as electric-powered cars, bikes, scooters, and vans.