PSA Group makes electric commercial vehicles available for car sharing in Paris

The city of Paris recently launched the electric commercial vehicle car sharing service for professionals, “VULe Partagés”. PSA Group is providing 80% of the vehicle fleet put into service.

Out of 10 vehicles available, 4 Peugeot Partner and 4 Citroën Berlingo are made available to users. This type of vehicle is suited to professional use, with 3 seats in the front and a fast charging, 80% within 30 minutes.The service launched on an experimental basis in the 2nd and 3rd arrondissement of Paris.

This experimental phase is being carried out as part of the Ile-de-France Region’s call for projects on “Innovation to promote sustainable mobility”. To use this service, traders and craftspeople in the city of Paris can register on-line on the website:www.vulepartages.fr

PSA Group today markets 5 electric vehicles: Peugeot i0n and Partner (commercial vehicle), Citroën E-Mehari, C-Zero and Berlingo (commercial vehicle). From 2019, 4 new electric vehicles will be available.

Car Sharing Service Car2Go Dumping EVs For ICEs In San Diego

San Diego must qualify as the greenest city in the nation’s greenest state. So it’s a bit of a shock when its largest car sharing service, Car2Go, decides to give up on electric cars and go back to using cars with internal combustion engines. The problem, Car2Go says, is there are not enough EV charging stations in the San Diego area to make its business model viable. It currently has about 400 electric cars in its car sharing fleet.

Electric Car2Go Smart Car in Amsterdam

This is bad news for a city that prides itself on its plan to slash carbon emissions by 50% by the year 2035 — one of the most ambitious programs of any US city. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, electric cars are vital to that plan , as is car sharing because it can fill small gaps in commutes that rely on mass transit or bicycling.

City and environmental leaders said on Wednesday that the decision by Car2Go should be a call to action.”It’s a lesson to all of us that we have to work harder to build the infrastructure necessary to support electric vehicles and other transportation modes,” City Councilman Todd Gloria said.

Nicole Capretz, a consultant who was the primary author of the city’s climate plan, said the Car2Go decision is a frustrating step in the wrong direction. “It’s disappointing because we as a city are on a pathway to a 100 percent clean energy future and we can’t do it without converting our vehicles to electric,” she said. “This is a step backward, so we have to regroup and figure out some new solutions,” Capretz said.

The infrastructure to support plug-in cars is a critical issue all across America. Of all the major car manufacturers, only Tesla is aggressively pursuing a strategy to build fast charging stations all across America for its customers. Everyone else is hoping the government or private industry are going to supply the chargers their EV customers will need. What is happening in San Diego illustrates the problem with that approach.

Ford makes GoDrive car-sharing available to public in London

Ford Motor Company will begin making its London-based GoDrive car-sharing service available to the public. (Earlier post.) The service offers flexible, practical and affordable access to a fleet of cars for one-way journeys with easy parking throughout the city.

The project started as one of more than 25 experiments that form Ford Smart Mobility, Ford’s plan to use technology and innovation to take the company to the next level in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and big data. The pilot was called City Driving On-Demand. The application being introduced to the public is called GoDrive.

With the global car-sharing industry expected to exceed US$6 billion (£3.8 billion) by 2020, Ford is introducing GoDrive to target on-demand use and gain insight on emerging mobility trends and customers’ car-sharing habits. Ford is exploring the opportunity for car‑sharing services, working with Londoners to better understand their mobility needs and travel and parking patterns.

Intended to complement existing transport systems for integrated journeys, GoDrive is the only car-sharing service offering one-way trips with guaranteed parking. A pay-as-you-go approach, with pay-by-minute pricing covers congestion fees, insurance and fuel. Drivers use a smartphone app to easily reserve and access a car. Half of the fleet consists of Focus Electric vehicles.

The pilot experiment launched with 100 registered members accessing zero‑emission Focus Electric or fuel-efficient, low-emission Fiesta 1.0-liter EcoBoost models from secure parking hubs near major public transport locations, such as Waterloo and Victoria railway stations. Ford now is inviting 2,000 people to register for a free expanded service offering 50 cars across 20 locations. Ford is offering free membership and a £20 free driving credit to new members who sign up to theGoDrive program.

GoDrive also is notable for its continued evaluation and improvement through structured learning. Features regularly are added to the service based on learnings and customer feedback.

It is estimated that in the UK alone the car-sharing sector will grow by 23% from 2013 to 2025. A recent Ford-commissioned survey of 5,500 commuters in major European cities found that a majority of people consider their journey to work more stressful than their actual jobs, and 80% of Londoners said they are late for work once a month or more due to hold-ups.

Our research tells us that car clubs currently are perceived as inflexible when it comes to booking, time slots and return locations. Features such as one-way journeys and pay-as-you-go extend the number of opportunities that drivers would want to car-share and could prove a game-changer. More drivers are finding GoDrive to be a key service that can potentially empower people living in the city with its flexible approach.

—Alicia Agius, project lead, GoDrive, Ford of Europe

Since its launch earlier this year, feedback on the experiment has been largely positive, with the majority of initial users expressing optimism for the future of Ford in the growing car‑sharing space. Users have cited access to technologies found in Ford’s current model line‑up, such as Ford SYNC and parking assistance features, as a selling point of the project.

Members also highlighted the convenience of a one-charge, pay-as-you-go system that includes the London Congestion Charge, currently £11.50 (US$17.73). Drivers can familiarize themselves with the car during a five-minute grace period free of charge. Running costs are displayed via their app.

With the experiment currently in its beta phase, Ford hopes to build on the initial success and gain further insight into user behavior that will help refine the customer experience. Different weekend and day-hire pricing options, and further on- and off-street parking options will be investigated.

Ford also is exploring car-sharing experiments in Germany, India, and the US that will help the company determine how to best serve global customers as they face new mobility options in the future. Other Ford car-sharing experiments include:

• Ford Carsharing, Germany. The first manufacturer-backed, nationwide car-sharing program incorporating dealerships, has run for two years and recently expanded to 40 dealers in 67 cities with 135 locations. In partnership with large, multi-partner car-sharing company Flinkster, the service allows Ford Carsharing customers to use about 3,600 Flinkster vehicles, and Flinkster’s 270,000 customers to use the Ford fleet. Starting in 2015, customers can access a vehicle with a smartphone app, rather than a customer card.
• Share-Car, Bangalore, India. Ford is working with Zoomcar to test a sharing concept that would allow small groups, such as co-workers, apartment dwellers and families, to share a vehicle among multiple drivers. The approach helps consumers who can’t afford a car but want the benefits of owning one. The pilot program is expected to expand to two more communities later this year.
• Car Swap, Dearborn, US. An experiment using Ford-owned fleet vehicles. Participating Ford employees use a mobile app that allows them to search for a vehicle that meets their needs and negotiate terms of the swap. The experiment will provide an in-depth understanding of how Ford can help make car swapping easier.
• Dynamic Shuttle, New York and London. Exploring a shareable service that will offer point-to-point pick-up and drop-off on-demand. The experiment aims to better understand the social dynamics and routing requirements of shared transportation for city dwellers.

Nissan Will Test Public Car Sharing Plan In Yokohama

When is a Renault Twizy not a Renault Twizy? When it is a Nissan New Mobility Concept vehicle based on the Renault Twizy chassis. Nissan will use the tiny two seaters to test a public car sharing program in Yokohama. The year long experiment kicks off in April.

The Ultra Compact Mobility Certification System will take place in Yokohama’s Sakonyama Danchi District in conjunction with housing agency Urban Renaissance. Nissan says the experiment is part of a “method for revitalizing urban and suburban areas.” Presumably, any citizen in need of getting from Point A to Point B in Yokohama will simply hop into the nearest New Mobility Concept vehicle, drive to the desired destination and leave it for the next person.

Movie buffs may be reminded of the line in Beverley Hills Cop when Axel Foley asks childhood friend Jenny Summers if that fire engine red Mercedes SL is her car. “Oh, no,” she says sweetly, “In Beverly Hills, we just take whatever car is closest.”

The Twizy based micro-car is also part of a rental fleet in the Japanese town of Shikano. There, the cars cost the equivalent of $10 per hour after paying $12 for a training license. The New Mobility Concept vehicles are about a foot shorter than the diminutive Smart For Two, or about as long as your typical bicycle. Which means finding a parking space, even in the crowded confines of Japanese urban environments, should be a breeze.

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BMW Car Sharing Program to Include i3 EV

A new car sharing program just started this month in London. DriveNow plans to grow from a small-scale program by expanding naturally. Organically growing step-by step, DriveNow hopes to avoid the problems Daimler had in Britain. The partnership is a teaming up of the BMW Group and Sixt SE. They are presently in Germany (in Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Hamburg), as well as in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

London, unlike more-progressive transportation cities such as Copenhagen (Denmark), andZurich (Switzerland), has a predominant culture of private vehicle ownership.

Starting with 210 BMW 1 Series and MINI Countryman models, the London fleet plans to continue expand to a total of 300 vehicles within the next year. By spring, 30 all-electric BMW i3s will be among other styles of vehicles being offered.

BMW i3 Car Sharing Program

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The area served by DriveNow is around 65 square kilometres (25 square miles) in size, comprising three boroughs in North London — the boroughs of Islington, Haringey, and Hackney. The subtle expansion of DriveNow is planned for neighboring boroughs in a short time.

Reuters reports that users pay a one-off registration fee. The fee makes it possible to find and open the nearest car by card or via a mobile phone app. Customers can return vehicles anywhere within the zone. “Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW board member with responsibility for mobility services, toldReuters that the company had learnt lessons in how to bring the scheme to London. The business has more than 360,000 customers worldwide.”

Growing movements of alternative transportation choices are taking off in urban centers — both Europe and North America. Younger generations are not as attached to car ownership and continue to make multi-modal choices in transportation. Millennials identify with the automobiles differently than baby boomers… who are perhaps a bit too attached to them. Millennials go for diversity of modes, including public transportation and walking, while the numbers still show very high levels of car use by baby boomers. Millennials prefer electrics, hybrids, and carsharing services compared to older generations.

Of course, these are generalizations, but this is a documented shift that has been occurring.

Car sharing services give the ability to forgo car ownership without sacrificing mobility. Programs such as DriveNow, Zipcar, Car2Go, Autolib, and others like them are ideal for supplementing the short periods a driver may need or prefer the use of an automobile. In North America, DriveNow is only in San Francisco at this time. Its plans for expansion include 15 additional European and 10 North American cities.

Other interesting changes are in store for London. Planetsave reported earlier this year that billionaire Vincent Bollore will back an electric carsharing network in London. “His company has implemented a similar EV carsharing scheme in Paris. The one in London will cost Bollore about $166 million and have approximately 6,000 charging stations. Consumers can rent electric cars in the network in fifteen minute intervals. The first launch in late 2014 or early 2015 will provide 100 electric cars, with up to 3,000 more in the next three years.”

Christopher DeMorro examined some of the benefits from car sharing programs earlier this year, saying: “A study finds that car sharing members are learning to divest their lives of the need to drive.” Continuing, “Turns out we don’t need to drive as much as we thought! While the numbers vary wildly, the most agreed-upon number is that every vehicle in a car sharing fleet removes between 9 and 13 vehicles from our nation’s roads. If even just 10% of the population started using car sharing services, we’d remove millions of cars from our roads.”

Source: Gas2

Car Sharing Services Mean Fewer Car Sales

A new report by AlixPartners suggests that for every one car ZipCar adds to its fleet, 32 other new or used vehicle sales are lost. It won’t take long for those numbers to start adding up.

A decade ago, car sharing didn’t even exist, but these days car sharing services like ZipCar are a hot ticket, helping take a substantial bite out of the car sales market. These days though, many people opting for car sharing services like ZipCar are young Millennials living in urban areas, where the cost of car ownership is exacerbated by parking fees and higher insurance rates. Once you factor in gas, taxes, car payments, and maintenance, car ownership becomes one of the highest draws on your wallet. ZipCar members only have to pay for gas and membership fees however, saving many people literally hundreds of dollars every month. This means fewer buyers for cars, both new and used.

The report says that the average car sharing service has about 66 members for every 1 car in its fleet, but by 2020 that number could jump to 81 people per car. Furthermore, 48% of car sharing service members end up forgoing the purchase of a replacement vehicle altogether. Since 2006, this has meant approximately 500,000 fewer new car sales. By 2020, that number could rise to 1.2 million as services like ZipCar continue to expand, further contributing to a decline in actual car ownership.

The slow-and-steady growth of car sharing could explode with the introduction of autonomous cars. The technology is likely to be prohibitively expensive at first, but car sharing services could literally pull up to your front door, warmed up and ready to take you wherever you want to go. In that sense car sharing becomes more like a taxi system, and this “vehicle on demand” system could replace the car ownership model as we know it.

Source: Automotive News

Tel Aviv To Test Electric Car Sharing System

If there is any country sensitive to dependence on unfriendly oil-producing nations, it is Israel. For the Jewish nation, alternatives to oil are vital to its long-term survival hopes. So there is a lot of buzz around the incorporation of a car sharing system in Tel Aviv that could see car companies like Renault pitching a vision of an oil-free Israel.

While no particular system has been set in place, the French have a hand up in their efforts as they’ve already started a car-sharing system in Paris. Renault would most likely put their cheap, affordable, and practical Renault Twizy up as a potential contender for car sharing.

Renault is also a major partner in one of Israel’s premiere electric car projects, the battery-swapping Better Place. If Better Place and Renault could convince the politicians that battery swapping and car-sharing is a perfect marriage, it’d be a big win for the hard-hit EV innovator.

But Renault might want to go it alone, pushing its own vision of EV car sharing. In Paris, Renault now rents out Twizy EVs, swapping it out for a fully-charged version when the battery gets low. While it reeks a little bit of big brother, in Israel the need to get off of the oil standard has never been greater. Should an extended war hit the area, Israel would likely take to extreme oil rationing, making everyday life difficult for the average citizen.

Mass adoption of EVs would go a long way towards easing the burden on citizens, but can car sharing and EVs work together? Is the demand there?

Source: The Truth About Cars

Car2go opens in Miami today, but there's an unfortunate payment twist

PRESS RELEASE

car2go Brings a New Way of Carsharing to Miami

240 smart fortwo vehicles available for carsharing beginning July 28
Launch events feature free registration, free test drives, free driving minutes, and free food

MIAMI - car2go North America LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, will officially launch a new way of carsharing in Miami, Florida on Saturday, July 28, making a network of 240 low-emission smart fortwo vehicles widely available and affordable throughout the City of Miami.

"The success of car2go around the world to date shows that we are in a time that demands and calls for new mobility solutions in urban settings, and we are thrilled to be working with the City of Miami and the Miami Parking Authority to bring the next generation of carsharing to the people who live in, work in and visit Miami," said Nicholas Cole, president and CEO of car2go North America.

The car2go carsharing model, when used alongside existing public transportation, serves to substantially reduce the C02 emissions and traffic congestion that are common in densely populated and vibrant cities like Miami.

"We are proud to welcome car2go to Miami," said Art Noriega, CEO of the Miami Parking Authority. "car2go will provide our customers the flexibility to use another form of transportation on an as-needed basis, thus expanding the personal mobility options available to those who work, live, visit or patronize businesses in Miami."

Open for Business
Beginning Saturday, July 28, there will be 240 car2go edition smart fortwo vehicles available for people in Miami to use and share collaboratively. Those who register to become a car2go member will receive a membership card that will allow them to gain access to and drive in any of the available car2go vehicles in Miami, whenever they need it, for as long as they need it, without having to commit to a return time or location.

Registration is currently open online at Miami.car2go.com. For a limited time, all new members who use the promotion code HEAT will receive 30 free minutes of driving time, and currently the one-time $35 membership fee is being waived.

A New Way to Carshare
car2go provides an entirely new way of carsharing that gives members 24/7 access to a free-floating network of smart fortwo cars. It differs from traditional carsharing or car rental companies, particularly in these three areas:

BY THE MINUTE: Members pay only for the time they use the car, by the minute, with discounted rates for hourly and daily use. There is no minimum amount of time that a car can be used. Whether a member needs a car for 10 minutes or an entire day, members simply get in and drive for as long as they want, without having to commit to a specific return time or location. Parking, fuel, maintenance and insurance are included at no additional cost, and there are no annual or monthly fees.

ON DEMAND: Members can use the first available car2go they find, via a smartphone app, via the car2go vehicle finder at car2go.com, by calling the customer call center, or by simply locating an available car2go. Reservations are not required because with car2go, members have unrestricted and unlimited access to car2go vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

FREE-FLOATING: Members can pick up and drop off a car2go anywhere within the car2go Home Area. They can simply drive the car for as long as they need it, park the car in one of the designated parking areas, and end the rental by swiping the card on the windshield reader. Instantly the car becomes available for the next member to use.

Launch Events
car2go is celebrating the launch of its ground-breaking carsharing program in the City of Miami at two events this weekend. At each event, visitors will receive free registration and 30 free minutes of driving time, learn how car2go works, test drive the car2go edition smart fortwo, enjoy free brunch, and have the opportunity to win prizes, while supplies last.
The car2go Miami launch events are taking place at:

Wynwood Kitchen & Bar
July 28, 2012, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
2550 NW 2nd Avenue

BARU Urbano Brickell
July 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
1001 S Miami Avenue