The car2go mobility concept will launch in Hamburg in spring 2011 and will see German car manufacturing giant Daimler, the owner of brands including Mercedes-Benz and Smart, team up with Hamburg-based car hire company Europcar.
Around 300 Smart Fortwo vehicles will be made available as part of the initial scheme and they will be equipped with car sharing telematics and a solar roof. The solar roof has an output of 100W and is used to supply power to the telematics and continually charge the car’s battery. If there is enough demand, it is expected that the fleet will be expanded.
The Smart Fortwo car2go with solar roof.
Hamburg will be the first city in which ca2go is being introduced as part of a planned international market launch having already been trialled in Ulm, Germany and Austin, Texas.
During the trial in Ulm, 20,000 customers used the 200 Smart Fortwo CDIs which will be replaced later this year with 300 of the new car2go editions. Since the end of March almost 350,000 journeys have been made with more than four million kilometres travelled. Nine out of 10 rentals end at a different location from where they started with customers able to start and end their rental wherever they choose.
Meanwhile, during the trial in Austin, in just over four months, car2go has notched up 10,000 registered members and more than 80,000 rentals.
The beauty of car2go is that vehicles can be rented spontaneously or by booking in advance within Hamburg’s central zone, an area of around 25 square miles. The vehicles can be found and rented immediately by customers throughout the operating area without the need for reservation and at the end of the rental they can be parked in any public parking space that offers unlimited parking. They can also be parked on city-managed car parks and parking spaces that require a parking disc without having to pay and display.
In Hamburg the rental price will be 29 euro cents per minute – up to a maximum of €14.90 per hour. This price includes fuel, insurance, mileage covered, taxes and all parking charges.
