The two-year car2go North America Pilot Programme in the state capital of Texas – Austin – has come to an end. However, a new agreement has been signed to ensure that car2go will continue its operations in the city.
Developed by Daimler, car2go is the world’s first free floating car sharing network and it launched in the city of Austin back in November, 2009. In May 2010 it opened to the public and now it has more than 21,000 registered members.
From the start of 2012, the car2go scheme will take on an even more environmentally friendly approach by introducing several electric vehicles into the city. This will include the Smart Fortwo electric drive vehicles with information to be supplied to members on how they are charged.
In addition, members will benefit from an updated version of the car2go telematic touchscreen inside the vehicle. It will include a zooming function on the GPS navigation, and the map will include indicators for car2go parking spaces.
The car sharing scheme in Austin has proven so successful that car2go has expanded throughout North America. In June it launched in Canada for the first time, inVancouver, British Columbia; and in November, it launched the first all-electric car sharing network in North America in San Diego, California. It also has operations in Europe, in: Ulm and Hamburg, Germany; Vienna, Austria; and Amsterdam, Netherlands.
