Spark enters Lithuania's Kaunas with 100 electric vehicles

KAUNAS - Spark, an electric car sharing platform, is launching its services in Lithuania's second-largest city of Kaunas on Monday with 100 electric vehicles.

"Today, we are pleased to announce that Spark, a zero emission electric car sharing company, is launching its services in Kaunas after seven years of operations in Vilnius," Robertas Jonyla, CEO of Ride Share, the provider of the Spark electric car sharing service, told a press conference in Kaunas.

Until now, the service has only been available in the Lithuanian capital.

100 Spark cars, half of them Volkswagen e-Ups, have been brought to Kaunas for the occasion. Users will be able to travel between the two cities and leave their cars wherever they like.

Prices in Vilnius and Kaunas will be the same and they will include insurance, maintenance and charging. Customers will be able to charge their electric cars using several different operators' stations.

Until now, a lack of charging infrastructure has been the main obstacle to the platform's expansion to Kaunas, Jonyla said. This problem has been resolved by Eldrive Lithuania, the developers of a network of public charging stations for electric vehicles, who have already installed 20 charging points in Kaunas.

Spark currently has over 700 electric cars available in 18 different models.