It’s normal practice for a car manufacturer to sell cars to its employees at a discount, but in Germany, Daimler’s going a step further. It’s not about selling nor leasing, it’s about making cars available when people want them. Daimler will now provide a fleet of 260 electric cars for its employees. 220 are Smart Electric Drive, and the remaining 40 are Mercedes A-class (old generation).

These cars are available in five different sites. Four around Stuttgart (Möhringen, Sindelfingen, Untertürkheim and Böblingen), and the last one is the Mettingen plant, near Holland. All these areas have been equipped with charging stations, so that employees can get their car charged during their work day. Hence the name of the project: charge@work. The cars are available on request for both work and leisure, but the unanswered question is whether Daimler’s employees will be interested by the offer.