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Daimler expands ‘car2go’ vehicle sharing program, considers adding EVs to fleet

 
1,638 views Dec 8, 2008

daimler smart car2go 002

Satisfied with the initial trial, Daimler is expanding the car2go program to 200 publicly available cars

Satisfied with the initial trial, Daimler is expanding the car2go program to 200 publicly available cars

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Daimler commenced trials of a new mobility concept called the ‘car2go project’ in Ulm, Germany, on October 24 in an attempt to provide a solution for increasing traffic volume in urban areas. The company is now expanding the program to 200 cars from an initial 50, and opening the fleet up to public use. The expanded fleet will be in service by Q1 2009, and if that proves successful, electric cars could be added as well.

The project is essentially a car sharing program that charges users $0.19 for each minute they use the vehicle regardless of distance traveled or fuel consumed. Following a one-off registration process that adds an encoded chip to the driver's license, the Smarts can be hired spontaneously in passing, or pre-booked and used for as long as desired. Available vehicles can be located via the internet or a telephone service hotline, and can be booked up to 24 hours in advance.

The aim is to ensure that an available vehicle is just a few minutes’ walk away at any time. The user simply gets in and can drive off straight away. Once the trip is completed, the user can park the rental Smart somewhere within the city limits. The cost of the service is 19c per minute, which is charged to a pre-registered credit card or monthly bill. To encourage users, there are also cheaper hourly or daily rates for longer rental periods.

A service team cleans the vehicles on a regular basis and handles all technical maintenance work, including filling the tank. However, customers can do this themselves in return for free minutes credited against their next trip.

Daimler says it will add electric vehicles to the fleet if the wider trial beginning next year proves successful, but for the time being, only diesel versions of the Smart will be available, reports Automotive News Europe. Another avenue for future development of the project is cooperation with train companies to offer parking spaces to car2go users, effectively enabling multimodal transport.
Daimler car2go Smart ForTwo

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