The first electric car-sharing on Domus

Between 1969 and 1974, when service was started, a project developed by Luud Schimmelpennink, who was not only an entrepreneur and inventor, but also an alderman in Amsterdam, took shape for a system of individual transport on "public" vehicles, where public stands for shared. These were the Witkar, white cars (or carts), which between 1974 and 1986, with the initial support of prime minister Irene Vorrink, would allow to move fast – but not too fast – and ecologically – as “sustainably” was not yet the it word – through the centre of the Dutch capital.  An experiment that more than 50 years ago had the character of an exploration on the future of mobility, which has always been a key theme for Domus, as recounted in issue 1090, edited by Norman Foster in May 2024. The Witkar project was anticipated in October 1971 on issue 503.

Amsterdam is the first city in the world where an experiment of “individual” public transport is being carried out by the City Council. The “white car”, is a two seated minicar, powered by an electric motor, which any citizen can use freely, driving it personally, from one “station” to another. No driving licence is required. One starts the car by turning a key, having inserted a coin or a credit-card and selected the right button for the station of arrival. If the station of arrival is full up, a computer will give directions for the nearest available station — a plugin and parking station.

The “white car” is meant to be used in the areas of the city centre not covered by the public transport system, to provide “wheels” to pedes nans, without causing noise or pollution or parking problems. The idea of the “white car” and its design come from Provo LuudM. H. Schimmelpennink, the man who already represented the Provos in the Amsterdam City Council for a year, and who already proposed the "white bicycles", communal bicycles for communal use anywhere in the city. The «white car» stems from the same idea: use but not own, freedom and trust. The first prototype of the “white car” was paid for by public donations and Schimmelpennink’s friends. Now the Amsterdam City Council has already built three cars and two stations. (The program foresees 100 “white cars” circulating between 7 stations). A person like Schimmelpennink, and a City Council like the one in Amsterdam are indeed most extraordinary.