HYDERABAD: As part of Hyderabad Metro Rail’s plans to introduce non-polluting vehicles for first and last-mile connectivity, 25 electric cars on self-drive rentals were launched at Miyapur Metro station on Friday.The service, being provided by self-drive mobility platform Zoomcar, will help facilitate the travel of Metro commuters looking to complete their last mile journey affordably with the convenience of self-drive vehicles, said officials.The rental charges for the 25 Mahindra e2oPlus cars start at ?8.50 per km and offers cost-effective and eco-friendly travel option for commuters. The electric cars can also be rented on a monthly basis at a cost of ?10,000 and by paying an advance of ?5,000. Commuters can register for the service on a mobile application by submitting their driver’s license.The service will soon be expanded to enable one-way movement to Madhapur and Gachibowli , for the convenience of IT sector employees looking to commute between Metro stations and offices.According to N V S Reddy, Hyderabad has become the first city to introduce such a facility at Metro stations. The electric vehicle charging facility, being developed at Miyapur Metro station by Power Grid Corporation of India, will soon be inaugurated. “Nearly 80 per cent of the work has been completed for the electric vehicle charging facility at Miyapur Metro station,” added Reddy.Electric vehicle charging stations will be extended to Metro corridors across the city. Prior to this, Zoomcar had deployed 20 electric cars on its platform in Hyderabad. Its PEDL service — a cycle-sharing service — has deployed around 500 cycles across Hyderabad in areas such as Gachibowli, Madhapur, Ameerpet and Begumpet for people seeking to do grocery shopping, errand running and to enhance last-mile connectivity. The present charges stand at ?3 per 30 minutes.Meanwhile, an ultra-modern toilet unit fitted with a urine treatment plant, which converts urine to safe water, was also inaugurated at the Miyapur Metro station on Friday. The treated water, which is odourless, can later be used for purposes such as watering plants.A traditional urinal system, fitted with automated flushing, wastes 500ml to 750ml of water per flush. But, the ultra-modern toilet saves close to 96 per cent of this water usage and is designed to be an ‘odourless, waterless and chemical-free’ unit, said officials.