Interviewing the Town Councilor of the Municipality of Málaga, Raúl López Maldonado

MÁLAGA is one of our three pilot sites. Málaga pilot addresses the definition, testing and validation of collaborative last mile distribution logistics with electric vehicles, prioritising 3 areas of the city:
• Malaga historic city centre.
• Carretera de Cádiz area.
• Humilladero area.
Besides innovative smart park and charge services and their interaction with the grid, another key aspect that will be developed and tested in Malaga is an e-car sharing scheme with the city council owned fleet to boost the use of the existing electric vehicles in the city council among the citizens.

Raúl López Maldonado, Town Councilor of the Municipality of Málaga, explains further details of Málaga’s role within the project.

What are the e-mobility strategies in the city (planned or in place)?
In the city of Malaga, there are two planning instruments that mark the strategies of mobility in the city: the general urban planning plan (dependent on my town planning council) and the sustainable urban mobility plan (dependent on the mobility council). Between both plans there is a close link and the key principles pursued are: sustainability, safety, universality, participation, coordination and efficiency and recovery of urban space.
Also, through different projects, the city has developed a special sensitivity towards electric mobility and innovation in policies related to renewable energies and mobility, from the Department of Innovation and New Technologies. In fact, a strategic plan for technological innovation has been launched, where electric mobility is incorporated as one of the axes of work.
Some of the key strategic lines that are underway are:
• Transformation of the fleet of municipal vehicles to electric and non-polluting technologies.
• Promotion of electric mobility in the field of logistics and loading and unloading of goods.
• Increase in the number of electric recharging points in public and private car parks, as well as on the surface.
• Implementation of fiscal measures and support for electric vehicles of individuals.

How the city is promoting and boosting electromobility adoption?
The city has launched initiatives over the past few years, such as Smartcity (with ENDESA) and ZEM2All (with Mitsubishi and others partners). With these projects, the city has become a laboratory for different companies linked to electric mobility to test their products, in fact there are already 8 electric scooter companies and one for electric motorcycles, in addition to the municipal fleet that increasingly has more electric vehicles.
Currently, the initiatives launched to promote electric mobility are, among others:
• Increase in the number of electric vehicles through positive discrimination (reduction of taxes, not paying SARE, free minutes in public parking, access to the historic center of the city …)
• Promote the number of public infrastructures to recharge
• Education and awareness on electric mobility

How the city is going to benefit by means of its participation in MEISTER?
The City Council of Málaga joins the MEISTER project with the idea of giving greater impetus to the current policies and actions of electric mobility in the city. The collaboration with European companies and research centers we believe is essential to incorporate the latest trends and innovative products in this field. The technological solutions that are applied to electric mobility are changing very quickly and participation in these types of projects can help to be prepared before others to assume these changes.

What is the main interest of the city in the MEISTER project?
One of the main interests of the City Council and its associates in Malaga is the involvement of logistics companies in this area of electric mobility, as well as citizenship in new business models that increase the use of electric vehicles. Malaga has a clear commitment to reducing CO2 and combating climate change, which this type of project can help accelerate and turn into reality.