Car2go expanding locally with four- door vehicles
Car- sharing company Car2go is introducing 25 four- door vehicles to its fleet in Calgary.
The pilot program, which officially launches Monday, provides 84,000 members in Calgary with access to the Mercedes- Benz BClass vehicle complementing the company’s 550 Smart Fortwo vehicles.
Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto are the only locations in North America that are receiving the four- door vehicles.
Jon Wycoco, general manager of Car2go, said it has been following its members through their carsharing experience in Calgary and the company wanted to give them another option of getting around the city.
“These four- door Car2go vehicles will allow us to explore new ways to make getting from Point A to Point B simple and easy, while also giving our members the opportunity to experience another one of Daimler’s world class vehicles,” said Wycoco.
Car2go is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, which produces both Smart and Mercedes- Benz.
Calgarians have embraced the Car2go concept. Membership is second in North America behind only Vancouver. Calgary launched Car2go in July 2012. Vancouver, with 91,000 members, launched in June 2011.
The concept began in 2009 in Austin, Texas. Today, the company has more than one million registered members using 13,500 cars in 30 locations around the world.
“I believe that Calgarians realize that there’s a strong need to move around the city. And to get from Point A to Point B, Car2go fulfils that need of between the first and last mile. So to help a person either maybe get to work, go out for dinner, go see friends and family, we allow a transition trip,” Wycoco said.
The car- sharing concept is also appealing to Calgarians because Car2go vehicles can park for free in many areas downtown.
The new Mercedes B- Class vehicles can be rented at the same cost — 41 cents per minute — as Car2go’s two- door vehicles.
Calgary community strategist Richard White said Car2go has been successful in Calgary because of the large number of people employed in the downtown, the high downtown parking rates, and the large group of young professionals living and working downtown.
“The incentive to drive the car and not have to pay for parking is huge. It can save people up to $ 300, $ 400 a month,” White said. “We have a very strong, well educated, young population who, I think, fit very much with the mould of Car2go, who are sort of more inclined to be sensitive to the environment, more inclined to maybe not want to drive, or own their own car. And they live in downtown in high- rises where having a parking stall or paying for parking is a big issue.”
He said the four- door model would allow for greater flexibility in being able to carry more passengers and more items in the vehicle.