Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) Taiwan's Kaohsiung City will open an electric car rental station on Oct. 1 as part the city's electric car sharing system, Kaohsiung's Transportation Bureau said Friday.

The station will be located at the No. 2 exit of the Sizihwan station of Kaohsiung's MRT system. Five electric cars will be available during the month for people to try out the new service free of charge, the bureau said in a statement.

The electric car sharing system is being introduced in Kaohsiung based on a contract signed in May between the city government and the electric car rental company Unicar, according to the bureau.

Over the next two years, 50 electric car rental stations will be opened offering a total of 84 vehicles in the city, and the rate is tentatively set at NT$150 (about US$5.00) per 30 minutes, it said.

The first 10 stations will be set up by May 2018 in areas near the high-speed rail system's Zuoying Station, railway stations, MRT stations, department stores and hospitals.

Chu Li-yu, a manager at Unicar, said his company has developed the country's first car sharing APP in collaboration with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which will allow users to book and rent a car and make payments through their mobile phones