Invers Partners with Deer to Electrify Rural CarSharing Across Germany

Germany’s largest electric car-sharing provider in rural areas has partnered with tech company Invers to modernise its fleet of electric vehicles.

The company operates a fleet of 600 electric car-sharing vehicles across more than 400 locations in southern Germany.

Invers, a pioneer in automated car sharing that powers over 450 operators worldwide, will supply Deer with its CloudBoxx technology, enabling keyless access to cars, 4G connectivity, accurate GPS positioning, and integrated smoke and damage protection, among other features.

Deer has been offering EV car-sharing services since 2019 and operates within a station-flexible car-sharing model, allowing users to rent a vehicle at one station and return it at another.

“Our mission is to establish flexible and climate-friendly mobility solutions in rural areas and to get from A to B in a way that is both individual and environmentally friendly,” says Selina Söhner, Head of Division at Deer. “With the new CloudBoxx, we can further professionalise this claim with higher availability, better network coverage, and innovative functions for greater customer satisfaction.”

Zag Daily spoke with Bharath Devanathan, Chief Business Officer at Invers, to gain a deeper understanding of how software can contribute to the success of car-sharing operations.

Bharath explained that the user app is crucial, as it serves as the operator’s primary point of contact with the end customer. “It needs to be appealing, intuitive, and seamless to let the customer log in, find the car, and start the trip immediately,” he said.

To make this happen, the software must take as much complexity away from the customer as possible. “As a customer, I don’t want to manually work through a checklist to end my rental. Instead, the app should pull the available data automatically to check whether I’ve closed the windows or left the high beams on.”

A second critical element is the operator’s backend, which enables informed decision-making if all data streams converge in real time.

Bharath said, “For example, sometimes a customer plugs in your EV, but for some reason, the battery is not getting charged. If you only monitor whether the charger is connected, you end up with a blocked charging station and a disappointed customer next in line. Your software should monitor whether the car’s state of charge is increasing and alert you if not. The data is there, and professional backend software takes in available data points, connects them, and allows operators to understand their fleet, spot problems, and optimise their business.”