Daimler Launched car2go Sharing Service

A new car sharing pilot project kicked off in North America this week, thanks to a partnership between carmaker Daimler and the City of Austin. Dubbed car2go, the first pilot phase starts with 200 smart fortwo vehicles and a defined group of users. Sometime in 2010, the number of cars will be increased and car2go will be made accessible to all Austin residents and students.

The fleet of vehicles can be accessed 24/7. One significant difference from traditional car-sharing programs is that car2go offers cars on demand and the customers may use the vehicle for as long as they like, without committing to a specific return time. Furthermore, car2go allows users to make one way trips. Charges are not based on distance, but on time.

“car2go is an innovative answer to current and future mobility needs in urban areas”, said Thomas Weber, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development, in a statement for the press. “We are pleased with the success we achieved in Ulm, Germany – the first car2go city - and we are ready for the next logical step on our way to an international rollout.”

“The City of Austin is committed to identifying and implementing solutions to address the challenges associated with urban growth, mobility and environmental sustainability,” added Mayor Lee Leffingwell. “This pilot-program partnership between car2go and the City of Austin represents a significant step toward helping us alleviate congestion, reduce emissions and increase the use of public transportation."

”The goal of the Austin pilot project is to gather experience we can use to ensure the public launch of car2go in North America in 2010 is successful,“ concluded Nicholas Cole, CEO of car2go North America. “In the second phase we will increase the number of cars in Austin and open the service to the public. We are also talking to a large number of cities in North America and Europe about additional rollouts of car2go.”