With more than a half-million words in the English language and 10 digits to choose from, Ford had ample opportunity to not name its new European carsharing service pretty much the same as a competing service operated by Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler. Alas, opportunity squandered.
Carsharing venture DriveNow GmbH, owned by BMW and European rental company Sixt AG, is expected to be profitable this year, the first time that will happen since starting up two years ago. BMW hopes to overtake German rival Daimler (with Car2go) in this growing space as urban consumers become more interested in transportation alternatives like carsharing.
Car sharing has become big business, and it is getting bigger and more competitive. The purchase by Avis/Budget of Zipcar for a reported $491 million is just the latest big name trying to share a piece of the car sharing pie.
So, what's the reason people get into carsharing? Is it a "romanticized view of access understood as a form of collaborative consumption and altruistically motivated"? Or is it more about practical realities – that car sharing is really about affordability and convenience?
Car2go North America is continuing to roll out across the US, this time in Seattle, with a network of 330 Smart Fortwo cars available for shared use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Registration for membership is open now here.
Londoners are learning that good things come in small packages, from Kate Middleton's recently bloomed baby bump, to newly rentable Smart ForTwo vehicles on the streets of the city.
Car2go seems to have discovered the equivalent of a seller's market.
Daimler North America is finding there's a good deal of interest in carsharing in the Great White North. Turns out that Calgary, Alberta is the fastest-growing city so far for in the global Car2go network. Since launching on July 21, 2012, more than 15,000 people have signed up to become members and have taken more than 40,000 trips. To meet demand, car2go is adding 150 cars in Calgary, bringing the total number of Smart ForTwo cars available
Starting today, the cost to rent a Car2go vehicle in the U.S. goes up, just a tiny bit. The carsharing prices will go from 35 cents an hour to 38, from $12.99 an hour to $13.99 and from $64.99 to $72.99 per day. These new prices are in effect in all Car2go cities in North America and still include the traditional Car2go benefits of parking, fuel, maintenance and insurance.
Austin, TX has always been known for great live music and delicious southern food. But as the town grows, it's becoming known for its smart transportation strategy. In this week's episode, we went to Austin to see what all the buzz about.
The latest city to get a pack of Smart Fortwo vehicles awaiting your carsharing orders is Miami, FL, where 240 Car2go Fortwos are going into service today.
Daimler likes to update car-sharing fans on how its Car2go projects around the world are going (see these posts about San Diego and Vancouver) and the latest positive media blast says that the new Portland Car2go network – which is made up of 250 Fortwos and, starting t
Daimler's Car2go carsharing program has been in Vancouver for a year now and, aside from some hockey riot vandals to start things off, things have been quite positive. In a press release talking about Vancouver Year One, Car2go offers up the following numbers:
Car sharing network Getaround has just launched a refreshed site design that will make peer-to-peer car rentals even easier. Think of Getaround as the Airbnb of cars, a place where you can list or rent an insured ride at an hourly or daily rate.
In a blink-and-you'd-miss-it announcement during an event in Berlin, the head of marketing and sales for Smart, Martin Hülder, told us that the third model in the Smart e-Mobility range – after the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive and eBike – will be the Smart electric scooter (or "smart
What's in a name? In Lyon, France, it can mean the difference between Daimler running its Car2go car-sharing service and taking a little break.
Car2go is expanding in various ways in various countries. In North America, three new cities are getting in on the car-sharing action: Miami, Toronto and Calgary (guess which one is pictured above). In Europe, the already-existing program in Amsterdam, the electric Smart Fortwo models now have new places to charge up.
So if you see a Smart ForTwo and a Mini racing down the streets of Berlin, here's why.
A successful study abroad program means going overseas, learning from the locals, and bringing the lessons back home. We've been all over the world in search of the latest in transportation tech and we saw some things that might be beneficial here is the States. Let's take a look at a few of these worldly ideas and see if any lessons could be applied back home.
