The car-sharing unit of the rental car company Hertz is expanding in the coming months, the company said. The service, Hertz 24/7, will extend a car-sharing model that had been available in urban areas and college campuses in the United States, and in five other countries, to suburban and rural areas. It also will improve ease of use, with self-service features including keyless entry and a flexible rental term. Hertz said that the rollout, which will eventually provide service to “the vast majority of Americans,” will begin in late summer in the United States, followed soon after in Europe, and later in China.
Source : The New York, by Tanya Mohn, April 24, 2013
As car sharing continues to gain traction among American drivers, Car2Go is one company benefiting from the changing way we use cars.
Seattleite David Stewart doesn't own a car. Instead, the managing partner of a small social media company relies on Car2Go for getting around.
He picks one up of the cars first thing in the morning in his neighborhood and drives to the local coffeehouse. He works for a couple of hours and when he's ready to visit a client, he grabs another car, which he finds on an app on his smartphone. He reserves a tiny two-passenger Smart car across the street.
He swipes his membership card in front of a reader on the windshield to get in the car. "Now it's confirming my account, and you wait until the car is unlocked and now we can get in and start driving," Stewart says.
The idea is simple. Customers like Stewart take a car when they want it, drive it anywhere within the company's designated area and then just leave it. They might drive three or four different cars in a day, but pay only for the time they actually use the cars: 38 cents a minute, or if the trip is a long one, $14 an hour.
For Stewart it adds up to $150 a month, a fraction of what a car payment — plus gas parking and insurance — would be.
"It's truly a flexible, on-demand service for our customers," says Nicholas Cole, who heads up North American operations for Car2Go. He says it's not just 20- and 30-somethings or college students who are using it — so are retirees who've moved into the city and given up an automobile.
"Seattle is a great example. We launched Seattle right before Christmas, and here we are in April with over 18,000 people signed up," Cole says.
Nationwide, Car2Go claims about 90,000 members. Across the country about 10 times that number are using established car sharing services, according to Susan Shaheen, an expert in sustainable transportation at the University of California, Berkeley.
"What a lot of people are starting to see is the emergence of a lot of different companies and a lot of competition," Shaheen says.
She says Zipcar was the first company to gain attention for renting out cars on a short-term basis. More recently, a company called DriveNow, like Car2Go, offers one-way options. (Zipcar requires that you return the vehicle to its reserved parking spot when you're done driving it.)
And, says Shaheen, "now we see things like peer-to-peer car sharing where you can actually put your own personal vehicle into a car sharing system." Shaheen counts 12 personal car sharing companies in North America as of last month.
There's no question that economics are driving the car sharing market, but environmental concerns and the adaptation of smartphone technology are factors, too. So are cultural changes, says Jeffrey Tumlin of the transportation planning firm Nelson Nygaard.
"People of my generation believed that our private automobile said a lot about who we are, that [it] defined our power and our status. The younger generations don't seem to be buying into that anymore, and they are seeing automobiles as simply a tool," Tumlin says.
It's hardly surprising then that automakers see car sharing as a potential new market. Daimler owns Car2Go. BMW's offering is DriveNow. Volkswagen and Ford are exploring this market, too.
Source: National Public Radio, by Wenfy Kaufman, April 8, 2013
A Y Combinator startup launched by three teens last summer has raised $5.5 million to help put airline passengers' cars to work instead of being stuck in a parking lot.
San Mateo-based FlightCar was one of the startups I liked best at last month's Demo Day, despite doubts that I would ever use it. Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham said he shared my doubts initially but that the service had proven popular in its beta test at San Francisco International Airport.
The idea is that users rent out their cars from the airport while they are out of town, something that the folks at SFO recently said is not allowed without a permit. It's Airbnb for airport rentals.
The company was started by 18-year-olds Rujul Zaparde, Shri Ganeshram and another who just turned 19 this week, Kevin Petrovic.
The round was reportedly led by General Catalyst Partners and includes participation from Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky, Softbank Capital Partners, Ryan Seacrest of Seacrest Global Group, former Expedia CEO Eric Blanchford, Y Combinator partner Garry Tan, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Justin.tv co-founder Emmet Shear, Lightspeed Venture Partners Managing Director Justin Caldbeck, First Round Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
The next stop for FlightCars is Boston's Logan International Airport.
Source : Silicon Valley Business Journal, by Cromwell Shubart, April 16, 2013
Project 100, a venture of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project in Las Vegas that will let people access vehicles to commute around the city, has just purchased 100 Tesla Model S sedans to be part of their new transportation sharing fleet.
The Downtown Project was founded by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh to help revitalize Las Vegas. It utilizes a mobile app for people to access either bicycles or automobiles to commute up and down the Vegas strip. The service will require a monthly service fee instead of a pay-per-use type of payment system. Aside from providing a transportation alternative to taxi cabs and public busing, Project 100′s complete fleet with be environmentally friendly, even if all the vehicles are not Tesla vehicles.
In terms of pricing, Project 100 wants the monthly subscription fee to be less than what it would cost to actually pay a monthly payment on a Tesla (or other vehicle), and appear to be targeting a $400/month price point. Compared to purchasing a Tesla, this is obviously a significant cost savings. When you factor into the equation that you do not need to pay for insurance (and presumably electricity either), then the service would be great for someone who regularly needs to drive a car, but perhaps does not go that far or use it that often.
In a city of high rollers, driving around in a Tesla Model S is definitely a cool way to travel. Also, the vehicle brings a certain exclusivity with it. Borrowing a Lamborghini Aventador or a Ferrari 458 in Vegas would require thousands of dollars a day. The Tesla will likely be even more exclusive.
For locals in the area who want to be environmentally friendly, this seems to make a lot of sense, and easy access to the vehicles through a comprehensive mobile app should help the program take off. Since the Downtown Project is backed by the City of Las Vegas, they should also have a regulatory advantage over Uber and ZipCar, who are also rumored to be entering the Vegas market.
Source : GottaBeMobile, by Chad Kirchner, April 7, 2013
The new Honda Fit EVs are available to all Zipcar members ages 21+ for hourly reservations, starting from $8.75 per hour.
Zipcar, Inc., the world's leading car sharing network, with the support of Los Angeles City Council member Eric Garcetti, today announced the introduction of 2013 Honda Fit EV battery electric vehicles (BEV) into the Zipcar Los Angeles fleet.
The addition of the new electric vehicles in Los Angeles comes as a result of the program announced by Honda and Zipcar in April 2012, through which Honda became a Zipcar preferred vehicle manufacturer with a focus on hybrid and electric vehicles. The agreement between Honda and Zipcar gives Zipcar members increased access to Honda's most technologically advanced, lowest emission vehicles, making an already transformational service even more sustainable. Through the program, Zipcar is planning to add additional Honda EVs into the company's fleet over the course of this year. "We are thrilled to be able to offer Honda Fit EVs to our members in the Los Angeles area through Zipcar's program with Honda," said Jeff Shields , general manager, Zipcar Los Angeles. "The new EVs will enhance the sustainable transportation options our Zipcar members have available to them and allow Los Angeles residents and visitors to further reduce their carbon footprint, all while driving one of the most technologically-advanced and fun cars on the road." The new Honda Fit EVs are available to all Zipcar members ages 21+ for hourly reservations, starting from $8.75 per hour. For more information on how the new EVs in Los Angeles work, visit www.zipcar.com/LAEV.
"Zipcar's operation in Hollywood is easing parking congestion, reducing air pollution and putting people to work," said Eric Garcetti , who represents Hollywood as a City Council member and who supported Zipcar's opening and expanding in the community. "These cleaner, quieter vehicles are a great addition to the neighborhood." The first of the new Honda Fit EVs are located at 6464 and 6565 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, in commercial buildings managed by Paramount Contractors & Developers, Inc (PCD). The vehicles are located in Zipcar branded parking spots with charging stations. Owner of Paramount Contractors & Developers, Brian Folb stated, "Paramount Contractor & Developers has long been at the forefront of building ecofriendly buildings, and was among the first developers in Hollywood to incorporate solar panels and electric chargers into their properties. Naturally we are thrilled that now, with the addition of the Honda Fit EVs, we can be the first LA area buildings to offer electric vehicles from Zipcar." To help introduce the new Honda Fit EVs to Los Angeles Zipsters, Zipcar will hold events on Friday, March 29 from 12noon- 4pm in the lobbies of both 6464 and 6565 Sunset Boulevard. Los Angeles residents and PCD tenants are invited to stop by to check out the new Honda Fit EV vehicles, and Zipcar members can take them for a test spin. The event will also include refreshments and technology demonstrations of how the EVs work. Honda's 2013 Fit EV, based on its popular five-passenger Fit, earns a combined adjusted Environmental Protection Agency mile-per-gallon-equivalency rating of 118 MPGe1, and an unprecedented low consumption rating of just 29 kilowatt hours per 100 miles1. The 100-percent electric Honda Fit EV features a 20-kilowatt-hour Lithium-Ion battery and a compact 92-kilowatt AC synchronous electric motor that generates 189 ft-lb of torque. When connected to a 240-volt circuit, the Honda Fit EV battery can be recharged in less than three hours from a low charge indicator illumination point2.
Zipcar is a longstanding pioneer in using advanced vehicle technologies. It was the first car sharing company in the United States to introduce electric vehicles, starting in Boston in 2002, and the first to offer hybrid vehicles through a partnership with Honda in Seattle in 2003. Zipcar member surveys show a strong interest in the use of advanced technology and alternate fuel vehicles in the program.
Source : EVWorld.com, April 1, 2013
