How the Transportation Sector Presents Opportunities for a More Sustainable Mobility Industry

Jesper Løvendahl of ExpatRide discusses the potential for transportation services to reduce emissions with every relocation.

As Worldwide ERC^® continues to work with global partners to forge a more sustainable future for the entire mobility industry, it is important to consider how we can all work together to reduce the environmental impact of relocations at every step of the process. That is why I was excited for the opportunity to sit down with Jesper Løvendahl, CEO and founder of ExpatRide, for a One Take conversation to discuss the many ways ExpatRide is working to provide transfers with the transportation services they need around the world, while also curbing greenhouse gas emissions along the way.

As one of the newer players in the mobility space, ExpatRide has established itself as an invaluable resource for international transfers and assignees. Drawing from his own difficulties leasing a car as an expat in Long Island 18 years ago, Jesper began ExpatRide to help solve car challenges across the globe. Since then, ExpatRide has evolved to serve people in 175 different countries—with offices in the United States, Denmark, and the Philippines—coordinating with RMCs on services and billing to fulfill client needs.

“We help with basically anything on four wheels—that would be airport transfers, it would be rental cars, daily chauffeur service, car leasing, financing, bus and coach service, armored vehicles, when needed,” Jesper said.

Jesper went on to describe the options that assignees select around the world, noting that though there are several regional variations, rental cars continue to be popular worldwide. With reducing the environmental impact of each relocation a central priority for our industry, Jesper homed in on the steps that ExpatRide is taking to promote vehicles with lower carbon footprints to cut back the emissions involved in every move.

“When you look at the assignments as well, let’s say a one- or two-year assignment, the thing that pollutes the most is a bad choice of vehicle,” Jesper said. “If you take a gasoline or diesel car and replace it with a hybrid on a monthly basis, you save 11 trees per month. If you do that for 50 assignees, you’re saving 6,500 trees per year. Now that’s substantial, and I don’t think there’s much that the industry can do to save that many trees when you look at the complete assignment length.”

He went on to detail how ExpatRide has undergone a three-part process to promote eco-friendly vehicle choices, including: ensuring that local suppliers were partners in their sustainability efforts; having greener vehicle options readily available to assignees; and inviting clients to participate in their new EcoRide Choice program. Although the availability of ecofriendly cars remains an issue due to strained supply chains, Jesper was optimistic that greener vehicles would become more readily accessible over the next few years.

If you are interested in learning about how ExpatRide is working to promote more sustainable relocation practices, as well as the services it offers to both individual clients and RMCs, I invite you to register for our upcoming webinar, “Car Services — How to Manage Assignees’ Global Transportation Needs.” Jesper will provide an overview of some of the difficulties international assignees face in new locations, along with the various transportation options that are available when they get there. The webinar will take place on Tuesday, 28 February, 9-10 a.m. ET. See you then!