Electric Cars Tapped For Positive Buzz

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Concord Real Estate Services is driving one of its core business segments in a new direction – in a fleet of electric cars.

The Century City firm, which manages more than 1,200 apartment units in Los Angeles, has leased four electric Fiat 500e cars to take its property management operations on the road. Each of the compact cars has a miniature mobile office in the trunk, complete with tablet, scanner, copier, printer and pop-out standing desk. The brightly colored cars – the same orange as the company’s logo – are meant to allow property managers to go quickly and more frequently to buildings to check on tenants, collect rent, process applications, and print leases and work orders. They also serve as an additional marketing platform.

The Fiat 500e retails for a suggested $32,300, about twice as much as its gas-powered equivalent. But because of state and federal incentive programs, Concord was able to lease the cars for a more affordable rate – about $250 a month each for three years. A federal tax credit allows car dealers to reduce a manufacturer’s suggested retail price for electric cars by $7,500 and a state rebate gives electric car owners $2,500.

Aric Ohana, who joined Concord as director of asset and property management services in January, said his decision to lease electric cars was in keeping with his efforts to steer the company toward being green.

“We’ve gone paperless and we’re considering using solar energy at our new corporate headquarters,” he said. “This was just the next step. It’s the way of the future.”

The firm, which will move to new offices near the Grove this summer, stores and charges the cars each night at 8124 W. Third St., a building it purchased recently.

Ohana said the firm has already begun to reap the rewards of its mobile offices. Improved efficiency means the company doesn’t have to hire as many people. It also means more leases signed faster: Prospective tenants can submit application materials, get approved and sign a lease in one sitting.

“This turns leads into leases,” Ohana said.

– Bethany Firnhaber

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