car2go - Get a smart Whenever You Need It

German company Daimler recently announced a new mobility concept that allows residents of a certain city to use a smart fortwo whenever they need to with a simple payment system. How does it work? The whole concept is based on a pre-paid mobile phone card-like system, allowing a driver to rent a smart only by using his driving license. The smart vehicles are randomly placed at several locations in a city so residents would be able to get a car whenever they need one. The price? Only 19 cents per minute, with the bill being paid at the end of the month.

Theoretically, the smart fleet is equipped with windshield driver license readers which require the driver to hold his license on the sensor and get a unique PIN needed to unlock the car. Moreover, a driver can rent a smart by phone using a special Daimler service which provides details about the available vehicles.

There's no time limit, the driver can use the smart as long as he wants. But what if the car runs out of fuel? According to Daimler, a special service team checks the vehicles periodically and repair the technical problems, if any. Although they also fuel the car, customers can do this themselves using a pre-paid card placed inside the vehicle that would bring them free minutes for the next rides.

“car2go is an intelligent and creative solution that provides a simple, flexible and value-for-money approach to mobility with environmentally-friendly vehicles,” Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said.

The service will debut in October in Ulm, Germany with a fleet of 50 smart fortwos, but officials said that it could arrive into more European cities anytime in the near future.

“Ulm has been one of our most important research locations for many years, and is therefore the ideal choice for testing this future-oriented mobility concept,” says Dr. Thomas Weber, member of the board of management responsible for research and development at Daimler AG.