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Hamburg became Car2go's second city in Germany, which opened for business last week. Unlike other operations, the service is operated by EuropCar, which will have a majority 75-percent stake in this shared project. Reports suggest that this relationship may be extended to other cities in the future.

 The Hamburg car2go launch is set to start with 300 vehicles. Prices for car2go usage in Hamburg will be 0.29 € per minute or at least 14.90 € per hour.  Here's a link to the map showing the large area that one way trips can end in.



Daimler has high hopes for car2go.  Last year Daimler Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber told the Financial Times Germany, that "it might have revenue potential comparable to our vehicle manufacturing" (rough translation).  Some analysts have calculated that car2go has a worldwide market potential of more than 100 million € is possible. The FT article indicated that Daimler was still considering whether to take the service to Paris using their Smart ED electric drive vehicles.

Daimler has some unique advantages in considering alternative mobility concepts, such as car2go and their dynamic ridesharing "app" car2gether, since they don't have any "entry level" brands or models, they can pursue the carsharing and car-alternative sector without fear of cannibalizing their up-market cars.

Previously, Daimler reminded us that in the first year of Ulm project, almost 18,000 customers had signed up, taking more than 235,000 trips. On average, the trips were used 30 to 60 minutes long and about 15 km. Daimler claims that in Ulm one in three driver's license holders between 18 and 35 years old is a car2go customer.

Meanwhile, there's still no confirmation about the second North American car2go city.

In Germany, Autoflotte Online passes on the good news about carsharing from the German carsharing association, Bundesverband Carsharing (BCS):

Mirroring the trend in the US, carsharing membership in Germany grew by of 20.3% from the previous year to 190,000. High growth was reported in the larger cities while membership in smaller carsharing companies (less than 20 vehicles) grew about 15% in 2010.




Other big carsharing news from Germany - car2go's expansion to Hamburg - will be covered in a separate post.

EVs in Carsharing

The interest in electric vehicle extends to Europe, as well.   In November Cambio carsharing, in partnership with Greenpeace, introduced several Mitsubishi iMiev vehicles in the Hamburg fleet. Cambio is charging 2.80 € per hour + 17 cents per kilometer. They are requiring members wanting to drive the EVs to attend a special driving school.

And Drive Carsharing added some 3 wheel electric vehicles in a project with German telematics provider Wollnikom according to AutoFlotte Online.

And in Brussels, Belgium, Zen Car launched as an all electric carsharing fleet.  Initially, 29 cars will be at 15 locations.  Rates are set at 7 € per hour with no distance charge (smart move!)   Zen Car is funded by Société Régionale d'Investissement de Bruxelles.
Carsharing "Embryonic but Promising" in France

Meanwhile in France, market research company Groupe Xerfi calls Autopartage "embryonic but promising".   Their report says that French carsharing companies grossed €12.5 million from about 25,000 members and predicted that membership could reach 140,000 members by 2015 with revenues at least 6 times greater.   According to France Autopartage, currently, there are 17 carsharing companies in France, with 5 of them in Paris.

Xerfi says the growth of carsharing in France has been "modest", behind some other countries, but point point to the Paris Autolib program (and general government leadership in the area), as well as interest from major companies like Veolia Transportation, Vinci parking and Hertz Connect (now with an estimated 3,000 subscribers in Paris after two years of operation).  Still, they caution that carsharing is struggling to find a viable economic model (sounds like some other carsharing companies I know).  You can read the full Xerfi report for a mere 1,500 € (and if you do, tell me more...)

Following several years of ad hoc meetings, independent carsharing organizations in North America launched a formal organization to promote their interests - the Carsharing Association. Presently, they are a variety of non-profit, for profit companies, most in the US and Canada.

Independent carshare bascially means - not Zipcar, Connect or U Carshare. Along the way, they have added an international flavor with carshares in Australia (GoGet) and Brazil (Zazcar). Car2Go and none of the start up peer-to-peer carsharing companies in California are members, although at least two of them have met with the group.

The Car Sharing Association has a well-developed "Code of Ethics" which builds on the earlier Code the group developed several years ago. The code describes standards of customer service, operations, environmental standards, etc. One goal of the group is that government agencies wanting to define carsharing eligible for partnership services, such as on-street parking, will use membership in the Association as their criteria.

An important test of the group will be watching how the organization deals with competition situations. Previously, there was no discussion about competition in earlier versions of the Code, and there seemed to be an unwritten expectation that since the companies were all community-based they would not move into each others' territory. Now, the Code has specific language about how competitors should treat each other.

At this early stage no carshares in Europe are members of the Carsharing Association presumably not finding any great need to belong to another organization when there are organizations that have more immediate benefit close at hand - CarPlus in the UK, the Bundesverband Carsharing Deutschland, Autopartage France and the Italian gruppo.

Formalizing the Car Sharing Association is a useful next step for independent carshares to take and the code of ethics a good way to insure that the benefits of carsharing to individuals, cities and the environment are not lost in the rush to make a profit along the way. Hopefully, the group will come to see the value of an organization with "the big guys" in it, as well, since there is much needed in the regulatory area of every country in order to level the playing field of car ownership and carsharing. Good luck.