Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Car rental |
Predecessors |
|
Founded | 2019 |
Headquarters | , Germany |
Number of locations | 16 |
Services | Carsharing |
Owner | Stellantis |
Parent | Free2Move |
Website | share-now.com |
Share Now GmbH is a German carsharing company, formed from the merger of Car2Go and DriveNow. Since 2022, it is a subsidiary of the Free2Move division of multinational automaker Stellantis providing carsharing services in urban areas in Europe, and formerly in North America. It has over four million registered members and a fleet of over 14,000 vehicles in 18 cities across Europe. [1] [2]
The company offered only Smart, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mini, Fiat and Citroën vehicles during the period when it was jointly owned by BMW and Mercedes-Benz and arranged one-way point-to-point rentals. [3] Users were charged by the minute, or by hourly and daily rates. [4] A smartphone app was used to enable hirers to access the vehicle.
Stellantis acquired ShareNow in July 2022 via its Free2Move subsidiary.
Daimler introduced the service in Ulm, Germany, in October 2008, [5] where it was developed by one of its internal business innovation units and was first tested exclusively by Daimler employees. [6]
Starting in May 2015, car2go added a $1 'Driver Protection Fee' for each ride to offset the lowered deductible. [7]
Since inception, car2go withdrew from several locations, including Britain, where it closed its service in London and Birmingham after only a year of operation. [8] Because of a lack of charging stations, car2go in San Diego, California, replaced its all-electric vehicle fleet with gasoline-powered cars starting on 1 May 2016. When the service started in 2011, car2go expected 1,000 charging stations to be deployed around the city, but only 400 were in place by early 2016. As a result, an average of 20% of the carsharing fleet is unavailable at any given time because the cars are either being charged or do not have enough charge to be driven. [9] At the end of 2016 car2go left the San Diego market. [10]
In January 2018, Daimler and BMW appeared to prepare the merger of their carsharing subsidiaries to strengthen their market position. [11] On March 1, 2018, Daimler announced that its subsidiary Daimler Mobility Services had acquired the 25% stake of minority shareholder Europcar Group for an undisclosed amount to now hold 100% of car2go's European subsidiary. The new combined company is called ShareNow. [12]
In late 2019, the company announced that it would close all North American operations (New York City NY, Seattle WA, and Washington DC in the United States; Montreal QC, and Vancouver BC in Canada) on 29 February 2020 because of excessive competition, increasing costs of operation and its limited infrastructure for supporting electric vehicles. Service in London, Brussels and Florence would also cease because of inadequate usage. That would leave ShareNow with operations in 18 cities in Europe, locations that "show the greatest potential for profitable growth and mobility innovation", according to the company. [13] [14]
On 3 May 2022, the acquisition of Share Now by the automobile manufacturer Stellantis was announced. [15] [16] The acquisition was closed on 18 July 2022 and Stellantis subsidiary Free2Move handles the Share Now ownership. [17]
The following table details all locations where ShareNow is active: [2]
indicates electric fleet
City | Country | Fleet | Start date |
---|---|---|---|
Amsterdam | Netherlands | 300 | Nov 2011 |
Berlin | Germany | 1,800 | April 2012 |
Copenhagen | Denmark | 500 | Sep 2015 |
Düsseldorf/Cologne | Germany | 1,100 | Jan 2012 |
Frankfurt | Germany | 300 | Sep 2014 |
Hamburg | Germany | 1,100 | April 2011 |
Madrid | Spain | 600 | Nov 2015 |
Milan | Italy | 1,400 | Aug 2013 |
Munich | Germany | 1,000 | June 2013 |
Münster | Germany | ||
Paris | France | 700 | Jan 2019 |
Rome | Italy | 600 | Mar 2014 |
Stuttgart | Germany | 350 | Nov 2012 |
Turin | Italy | 350 | Mar 2015 |
Vienna | Austria | 1,000 | Dec 2011 |
The following table details all locations where Share Now is no longer active as of July 2019 [update] :
City/ Municipality | Country | Start date | End date | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ulm | Germany | October 2008 | December 2014 | [18] [19] |
Lyon | France | February 2012 | June 2012 | [20] |
London | United Kingdom | December 2012 | May 2014 | [21] |
Birmingham | United Kingdom | May 2013 | May 2014 | [22] |
South Bay, Los Angeles | United States | June 2014 | June 2015 | [23] |
Eugene, Oregon | United States | October 2014 | June 2015 | [24] |
Copenhagen | Denmark | September 2014 | January 2016 | [25] |
Miami | United States | July 2012 | February 2016 | [26] |
Stockholm | Sweden | November 2014 | September 2016 | [27] |
Minneapolis-Saint Paul | United States | September 2013 | December 2016 | [28] |
San Diego | United States | November 2011 | December 2016 | [29] |
Toronto | Canada | June 2012 | June 2018 | [30] |
Columbus | United States | October 2013 | June 2018 | |
Chongqing | China | April 2016 | June 2019 | [31] |
Austin | United States | May 2010 | October 2019 | [32] |
Calgary | Canada | July 2012 | October 2019 | [32] |
Denver | United States | June 2013 | October 2019 | [32] |
Portland, Oregon | United States | Mar 2012 | October 2019 | [32] |
Chicago | United States | Jul 2018 | December 2019 | |
Vancouver | Canada | Jun 2011 | February 2020 | |
Washington, D.C. | United States | Mar 2012 | February 2020 | |
Seattle | United States | Dec 2012 | February 2020 | |
Montreal | Canada | Nov 2013 | February 2020 | |
Florence | Italy | Jun 2014 | February 2020 | |
New York City | United States | Oct 2014 | February 2020 | |
Helsinki | Finland | May 2017 | March 2020 | [33] |
Lisbon | Portugal | Sep 2017 | March 2020 | [33] |
Budapest | Hungary | April 2019 | October 2023 |
Company | Model | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BMW | 1 Series | 2 series | 2 Series Active Tourer | i3 | X1 | X2 | ||||||
Citroën | C3 | |||||||||||
Fiat | 500 | New 500 | 500x | |||||||||
Hyundai | Ioniq 5 | |||||||||||
Mercedes-Benz | A-Class | CLA Coupe | CLA Shootingbrake | E-Class | GLA | GLB | GLC Coupé | |||||
MINI | Cooper | Countryman | Clubman | |||||||||
Opel [35] | Corsa | Astra | Crossland | |||||||||
Peugeot | 208 | 2008 [36] | 308 | 3008 | ||||||||
Renault | ZOE | |||||||||||
Škoda | Octavia | |||||||||||
smart | fortwo | fortwo EQ | forfour |
The Share Now business model is similar in all markets, although rates vary by location. The company charges a per minute rate, with discounted fixed rates for hourly and daily usage also available and applied automatically. The rates are all-inclusive and cover rental, gas, insurance, parking (in authorized areas), and maintenance, a low fixed annual fee is sometimes also charged. In most markets, Share Now vehicles can park in either specially designated parking spots, or in standard parking areas, with a special permit from the local municipality. Users have the option of refueling cars with a supplied charge card, customers receive bonus minutes for performing this service.
In most cities, Share Now offers only two-passenger vehicles, namely two types of Smart Fortwo "car2go edition" vehicles: gasoline-powered, and electric-powered. The gasoline-powered cars can be found in three variants based on roof configuration: "original" with integrated solar panel roof; "upgraded" with a panoramic polycarbonate roof and power side mirrors; and "new" featuring a standard roof.[ citation needed ] Electric Share Now models are currently available in several markets, have a range of 84 miles (135 km), and need to be recharged every two or three days.
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.
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