Montag, 28. Oktober 2013

car2go - ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

car2go Tutorial Video (2010)

the reinvention of mobility

3years old german girl thinks her daddy stole a car (car2go)

car2go goes to Montréal and faces competition from "communauto" (October 2013)

Après Communauto, car2go se lance à son tour dans l'offre de voitures en libre service à Montréal. Reste à savoir lequel des deux concurrents sera le premier à faire circuler simultanément ses voitures dans les trois arrondissements autorisant ce service.

Deux jours seulement après l'annonce de Communauto de mettre à la disposition du public une centaine de voitures en libre service pour le mois de novembre, car2go a convié jeudi les médias à une conférence de presse pour le 10 octobre prochain, dans le but de faire le point «sur les activités futures de car2go à Montréal». Et ce, en présence des maires des arrondissements Plateau - Mont-Royal, Rosemont - La-Petite-Patrie et Côte-des-Neiges - Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. Ces arrondissements ont adopté la création de vignettes universelles permettant le stationnement en tout temps et quasiment en tous lieux sur leur territoire. Ouvrant ainsi la porte aux voitures en libre-service.

read the whole article (in french): http://auto.lapresse.ca/actualites/nouvelles/201310/03/01-4696112-auto-en-libre-service-car2go-arrive-a-montreal.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B2_auto_508450_accueil_POS1/

car2go goes to London (2012)

Ab sofort kann die britische car2go Flotte von allen registrierten Londoner car2go Kunden angemietet werden. Dafür stehen zum Start 500 umweltverträgliche smart fortwo mhd der „car2go edition“ zur Verfügung, die mit Start-Stopp-Automatik, Klimaanlage sowie Radio- und Navigationssystem ausgestattet sind.

read the whole article (in german): http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921-1193661-49-1556287-1-0-0-0-0-1-11701-854934-0-1-0-0-0-0-0.html?TS=1354647463058

car2go goes to Stuttgart (2012)

Stuttgart says ‘guten tag!’ to car2go

Posted by smart car UK at 10.02.2012

With the German city of Stuttgart set to join the car2go electric mobility revolution in the summer, the organisers are going one step beyond the already eco-excellent credentials of the scheme.
In order to showcase its commitment to the German federal government’s National Electric Mobility Platform, Stuttgart plans to become a ‘living lab’ for the future of urban transportation.

read the whole article: http://news.thesmart.co.uk.s112875.gridserver.com/index.php/article-2154/smart-electric-drive/stuttgart-guten-tag-car2go.html

car2go goes to Cologne (2012)

car2go Expands to Cologne, Germany

car2go expanded its service to Cologne, Germany on Aug. 29, making 200 smart fortwo cars available for use in the city.

After registering and paying a one-time membership fee, customers will receive a card to access the vehicles at any time and can return the vehicles to any public parking space in the area served by car2go. There is also a per-minute fee each time customers rent a vehicle, which also includes applicable taxes, insurance, fuel and parking costs. The per-minute fee decreases while the vehicle is parked.

read the whole article: http://www.autorentalnews.com/channel/rental-operations/news/story/2012/09/car2go-expands-to-cologne-germany.aspx

car2go goes to Miami (2012)

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

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.

read the whole article: http://green.autoblog.com/2012/07/28/car2go-opens-in-miami-today-but-theres-an-unfortunate-payment/

car2go goes to Toronto (2012)

Car2go launches short-term car rentals in Toronto, joining Zipcar, Autoshare, even taxis in moving market

Car2go launches a short-term car rental service in Toronto, adding a new rival to Zipcar, Autoshare and even taxi service.

You can rent it by the minute, drop it in any designated parking lot and don’t even have to book ahead.

Car2go is the latest car-sharing service to hit Toronto, joining Zipcar and AutoShare in the growing the market for short-term car rentals.

As previously reported in The Star, the Daimler-owned company confirmed Wednesday it is entering the Toronto market.

read the whole article: http://www.thestar.com/business/2012/06/13/car2go_launches_shortterm_car_rentals_in_toronto_joining_zipcar_autoshare_even_taxis_in_moving_market.html

car2go goes to Berlin (2012)

World's largest Car2Go fleet deployed in Berlin

In extreme sports, they say "go big, or go home." Car2go's doing both.

Daimler AG's car-sharing division, which has operations in places such as Amsterdam, Vienna and San Diego, last week launched service in Berlin in its native Germany with by far its largest fleet of Smart ForTwo two-seaters available for short-term rentals.

Car2go Berlin has 1,000 vehicles available for the approximately 65-square-mile area where customers can pick up and drop of the two-seaters. Car2go is charging a one-time registration fee of 9.9 euros (about $13 at current exchange rates) and will charge 12.9 ($17) euros an hour to drive. By the time the service started up in Berlin, 2,000 people had already pre-registered for the service.

read the whole article: http://green.autoblog.com/2012/04/30/worlds-largest-car2go-fleet-deployed-in-berlin/

car2go goes to Portland (2012)

Portland's Car2go carsharing service starting off well, going electric soon

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 this week, 30 all-electric cars – gained 6,000 members in the first 100 days.

car2go goes to Washington D.C. (2012)

Daimler's car2go car-sharing service starts in D.C., Portland this month

Daimler AG's Car2go car-sharing service, which has North American operations in San Diego, Vancouver and Austin, TX, will start the open-ended car-sharing program in Washington, D.C., and Portland, OR, later this month.

car2go goes to Vienna, Austria (2011)

Car2Go starts in Vienna with contactless technology made in Austria.

Daimler’s mobility provider Car2Go launched in Vienna on Dec 6th. The company provides 300 Smart-For-2 for the city of Vienna. Only Member Card holders can use the cars. The member card is actually a Mifare DESFire Card. Therefore the cars have an on-board unit containing a contactless reader and a GPRS Modem that is connected to the communication bus system of the car. Using the Member Card, the doors of the car are unlocked.

car2go succesful in San Diego (2012)

Car2go scoops up 6,000 electric car sharers in San Diego in first 100 days

For some people, buying an electric car is a long-time dream. For others, the excitement comes simply fromdriving one and not having to worry about the hassles of vehicle ownership. Turns out, there are at least 6,000 such people in San Diego, CA, where Daimler's easy-access car-sharing program, Car2go, reported that many users in the program's first 100 days. Car2go is also happy to note that the 300 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive models that are in use there now means that, "for the first time in the history of North America, an entire city has access to emissions-free automobility."

car2go goes to Vancouver, Canada (2012)

car2go Poised For Growth in Vancouver This Spring

VANCOUVER, B.C., March 20, 2012 /CNW/ - car2go Canada Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, announced today it will expand its Vancouver, B.C. operations to meet the growing needs of its more than 10,000 members. Beginning in mid-April, 100 car2go edition smart fortwo cars will be added to the car2go carsharing network, the car2go Home Area will expand, and new car2go parking spots will be secured, including eight new spots on the University of British Columbia campus.

read more about this article: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/940701/car2go-poised-for-growth-in-vancouver-this-spring/

car2go goes to Düsseldorf (2012)

Düsseldorf’s ready for car2go

Posted by smart car UK at 13.02.2012

It seems as though every forward-thinking city is keen to get in on the car2go act – and that can only be a good thing!

The German city of Düsseldorf is next in line to get with the car-sharing programme, with a 300-strong fleet of the dashing blue and white smart fortwo electric drive car2go special edition vehicles coming to the city in spring 2012.

car2go goes to Austin, Texas (2010)

UPDATE: car2go car sharing program goes public in Austin, Texas

Late last year we brought you news that the City of Austin, Texas, had launched a pilot of Daimler's resource sharing car2go program. Well, after a successful trial, this May the city will go public with the car-sharing system. The pilot began with a joint partnership between the City of Austin and Daimler where 200 smart fortwo vehicles were made available 24/7 within the city to a select group of city employees and their relatives. Now, the number of cars has been increased and all Austin residents and students can apply to utilize them.

car2go and third-generation battery cars

Third-Generation Battery Fortwo Cars in Hambach, France

Daimler-Mercedes has commenced production of the third-generation battery electric version of the Smart Fortwo two-seater, using new batteries and a new drivetrain.

In related news, Daimler reports that its Car2Go car-share subsidiary is expanding again, deploying fleets of gasoline-powered Smart Fortwo cars this summer in Toronto (June 30), Calgary (July 23, pictured) and Miami (July 30).

Second-generation battery electric Smart Fortwo cars constitute the entirety of the 300-unit Car2Go fleets in San Diego and Amsterdam.

There are 25 electric Fortwo cars with the Car2Go fleet in Ulm, Germany, and a handful of 100% electric test vehicles with the conventional gasoline Car2Go fleets in Austin and Vancouver.

Ecotality is the Car2Go’s San Diego charging partner.

car2go expanding to Columbos, Ohio

car2go is expanding its carcharing services to Columbus, Ohio this month.

car2go North America LLC announced October 3 it will launch its carsharing model in the capital city of Ohio on October 26.

This makes Columbus the 12^th car2go market in North America.

A network of 250 car2go edition smart fortwo vehicles will be available for shared use in the metropolitan Columbus area.

the guardian, August 2013

Jump in and drive: car hire by the minute pulls on to UK roads

The car2go service is a one-way on-street hired car that can be left anywhere when your journey is over

It is billed as the ultimate in convenient urban motoring: the use of a car on demand without the hassles and costs of owning one. Pick it up near home or work on the spur of the moment, pay by the minute, and park almost anywhere you want.

read more about this article: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/22/on-street-car-hire

autoblog, October 2008

Daimler's car2go: Rent a Smart anywhere, anytime

Cars represent freedom, right? Sure, but shouldn't that same freedom be available to those who can't justify purchasing their own car? Daimler thinks so, and has created a new pilot program called car2go that allows subscribers to rent a smart fortwo for just 19-cents a minute or less, depending on how long you need the car.

read more about this article: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/21/daimlers-car2go-rent-a-smart-anywhere-anytime/

New York Times, January 2013

WASHINGTON — As more companies and even nonprofits enter the fast-growing business of car sharing, they are offering consumers new ways to customize their short-term rentals for convenience, reliability and cost.

read more about this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/business/car-sharing-services-grow-and-expand-options.html?ref=technology&_r=1&

Daimler Article, May 2013

In the car2go mobility concept launched in Ulm, Germany in late 2008, Daimler is meeting customer demands for flexible urban mobility. The scheme now offers widespread availability of smart fortwo vehicles in a range of cities, in North America as well as in Europe, that can be hired at any time of day or night following initial registration - without a contract, minimum charge or minimum rental duration.

the applications

First-party and third-party apps for mobile devices allow users to locate and reserve vehicles. When reserving a car online, the customers are able to see the car's fuel gauge (gasoline-powered cars) or the battery's state of charge (electric-powered cars), so if the customer wants to go for an extended drive, they can find the right car for that trip. Customers can choose to refuel a vehicle to gain free usage minutes.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car2Go

the vehicle

Efficiency on the go

Enjoy the ride and save fuel

car2go is perfect for the city: it’s small, agile and fits in every parking space. Plus car2go is very environmentally friendly: if you stop at a traffic light it will turn off the engine; take your foot off the brake pedal and the engine starts again immediately. This saves on fuel and emissions.

You can drive completely emission-free locally with the car2go electric drive. One battery charge is enough for up to 140 km. Find out here when and where car2go electric drive vehicles are available.

source: https://www.car2go.com/en/wien/what-is-car2go/

What is car2go?

From A to B with car2go

Your car is everywhere

A car2go is always a pleasure to drive: book it, drive it, park it. Simple and straightforward. You can always find a vehicle in your area. You open it with the member card you get when you sign up. You go from A to B, park your car2go again and that's that. It's fun, saves money and helps the environment.

source: https://www.car2go.com/en/wien/what-is-car2go/

how it all started

The history of Car2go

Based on the vehicles use, Car2go looks like a program run by Smart, but it's not. Car2go is actually a subsidiary of Daimler North America, and as such is able to get some benefits that competitors like Zipcar don't have. More on that in a minute.

Car2go started in Ulm, Germany in 2008. Today, Car2go operates in two cities in Germany, Ulm andHamburg, and Austin. There are also tests going on in Vancouver, Canada, which certainly hints at something, doesn't it? Car2go CEO Nicholas Cole told us in Austin that, by this time next year, he hopes to have Car2go operating in two or three other cities in the U.S., with further expansions coming "exponentially" after that.

For now, though, the focus is on Austin. The program started there in November 2009, and was originally for city employees only. In May 2010, it opened to the general public and 15,000 new members joined in the first seven months of the public phase (the number is much higher now). For a long while, there were 200 vehicles in town, but a recent expansion brought in 300 new vehicles, just as the town was inundated by the SXSW hordes. The 200 original vehicles were taken away and are being retrofitted with the improved telematics system that's in the new models and will be re-used in the expansion cities, said Paul Delong, Car2go's director of sales and marketing. How's that for sustainability?

Speaking of which, we've heard since 2008 that Car2go might go electric. In 2011, the status hasn't changed. Delong told us that, "infrastructure is going to dictate how fast we can introduce electric vehicles, but we have to do this." In other words, hold tight.

The number of vehicles the new Car2go cities will get depends on four factors: the number of parking spaces available, current car ownership rates, how diverse the neighborhoods are and the population density. It's not a perfectly transferable number, but in Austin's 52 square miles there are 105,000 target drivers and just 300 cars. Cole told us that he doesn't see a lot of vehicle reservations in Austin, which is a good sign that there are enough Fortwos around for the 15,000-plus members.

Austin is a good fit for Car2go. You have progressive citizens and lawmakers there, as well as a large population of potential drivers at the University of Texas at Austin. Delong said the most surprising demographic group of drivers was the retirees and empty nesters who live in or near downtown.

The city, too, has been a good partner, right from the start when only city employees could use the vehicles. Today, the special status continues through a deal where city employees get to use the cars and no one driving a Car2go vehicle needs to pay for city parking (these sorts of deals will most likely also be true in whatever cities Car2go expands to). There are also some special private deals that have been worked out, like at the Whole Foods flagship store.

Here's another reason sunny Austin is a good test bed. All of the 300 new cars have solar roofs that keep the always-on GPS powered up and cool the cabin to match the ambient temperature so you're not blasted with a wave of heat when you open the door. Smart fans will note that no other Fortwo model has this kind of roof, which was created after driver feedback reported issues with the heat and dead batteries. Another innovation pioneered in the Car2go Fortwo is the touchscreen radio and navigation screen. No otherMercedes-Benz vehicle has a touchscreen right now, but the new S-Class models will in the near future. Through Car2go, Daimler is able to get new technologies into real-world test situations and get feedback from a lot of different users in almost no time.

source: http://green.autoblog.com/2011/03/24/daimler-car2go-program-carsharing-smart-fortwo/#continued