Car-sharing app offers a flexible transport option
It might seem counterintuitive for a company that sells cars to encourage people to rent one or to think of walking or biking to work instead.
But according to Bowater Toyota, times have changed.
The car company in Nelson has launched the city’s first carshare scheme, offering customers one of 12 cars at the dealership – including one electric and six hybrid – to hire out for as little as $15 an hour.
Chief executive Tony Bowater said demand for hybrid cars had ‘‘skyrocketed’’. But so too had the cost of living.
People couldn’t always afford to buy the car they wanted, and those who could didn’t always need to use it much or need one as big, Bowater said.
The company’s new Mobility Project offered people access to late-model, safe, economic, environmentally friendly vehicles only when they needed them.
‘‘It enables people to think of public transport, to think of biking, to think of walking to work, on the understanding that if there was an emergency, and they needed to go and help family or friends or do something in a hurry, they can access a vehicle 24/7 . . . without them having to break the bank to own a $50,000 car, a $30,000 car or a $10,000 car.’’
The scheme was a ‘‘click and collect’’ service, whereby users could unlock a vehicle via the Toyota Mobility NZ app.
People downloading the app on their phone would be asked to provide photo identification, details of a driver’s licence and credit or debit card.
They could then book and collect a car from the dealership at Achilles Ave.
There were nine cars to choose from that cost between $15 and $30 an hour – six standard hybrid cars, an electric car, a lowemission petrol car, and a ute.
Three ‘‘VIP’’ cars were available to pre-approved customers, costing between $50 and $75 an hour.
Fuel was included in the price for a vehicle booked for under two hours and travelling under 70km.
Anyone driving further or for longer would have the cost of extra fuel deducted from their account or charged to their card, unless they brought the vehicle back refuelled.
The scheme could benefit people who needed a car to do anything from a half-hour job to towing a boat for a weekend, Bowater said.
‘‘It might be that rather than having two cars in your family, you have one, and then you can access this type of system for the times that you need that extra one.’’
Car-share schemes operate elsewhere in New Zealand: Cityhop is in eight centres; Zilch is in Christchurch and Auckland; and Mevo is in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington.
Bowater said any car-share company wanting to set up in Nelson would have to bring in a fleet of vehicles, whereas this project used cars that were already here; 12 of the Toyota dealership’s 28 ‘‘demonstrators’’, which are used for test drives.
The pilot might offer more electric vehicles if there was demand, he said.
The company also aimed to open two of its electric vehicle charging stations to the public, almost doubling the EV charging capacity in the central city.
The business had installed two DC charging units, outside its car yards at Halifax St and Van
guard St, which it hoped to make available to the public before Christmas.
Mark Gilbert, the chairman of Drive Electric, said he welcomed any business that was providing charging services to the public.
He said New Zealand was in ‘‘desperate need’’ of more public charging infrastructure.
But car-share schemes would ‘‘ideally’’ use zero-emissions electric vehicles.
‘‘While petrol hybrid cars usually produce fewer emissions than equivalent conventional petrol vehicles when in use, many of the world’s automakers have committed to a fully electric future. Many see hybrids as an interim technology, as they still use petrol.’’