2012/04/02

car2go Opens For Business in Portland, Oregon

DAIMLER AG - car2go North America, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, officially launched a new way of carsharing in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, March 31; making a large network of low-emission shared-use vehicles widely available and affordable for those who live in, work in and visit Portland.

Open For Business

Beginning Saturday, March 31, car2go began to deploy 250 smart fortwo cars in Portland, distributing them throughout the 32-square mile car2go Home Area and making them conveniently accessible for members to use and share collaboratively. Each person who registers to become a car2go member will receive a car2go membership card that will allow them to gain access to and drive in any of the available car2go vehicles, whenever they need it, for as long as they need it, and without having to commit to a mandatory return time or location.
Member registration is currently available online at Portland.car2go.com. For a limited time, all new members who use the promotion code ROSE will receive 30 free minutes of driving time, and currently the one-time $35 membership fee is being waived.

The car2go Portland office will be located in The Pearl District at:
1100 NW Glisan, Suite 1B
Portland, OR 97209

Launch Event

To celebrate the launch of car2go in Portland, a public launch event has been held on Saturday, March 31 and Sunday, April 1 at Pioneer Courthouse Square. The event was free of charge and opened to the public. All attendees had the opportunity to learn how car2go works, test drive the car2go edition smart fortwo vehicle, enjoy free food and drinks, and have the opportunity to win free driving minutes and other prizes. All attendees received free registration and 30 free minutes of driving time.

A New Way To Carshare

As the world's first free-floating carsharing service, car2go provides a new way of carsharing that is unique, particularly in these three areas:

BY THE MINUTE: Members pay only for the time they use the car, by the minute, with discounted rates for hourly and daily use. There is no minimum amount of time that a car can be used – whether a member needs a car for 10 minutes or an entire day – members simply get in and drive, for as long as they want without having to commit to a mandatory return time or location. Parking, fuel, maintenance and insurance are included at no additional cost, and there are no annual or monthly fees.

ON DEMAND: Members can use the first available car2go they find, via a smart phone app, the car2go vehicle finder at car2go.com, by calling the customer call center, or by simply locating an available car2go on the street. There is no need to make a reservation in advance because members have unrestricted and unlimited access to car2go vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

FREE-FLOATING: Members can pick up and drop off any car2go anywhere within the car2go Home Area -- in any legal on-street parking space, including metered, non-metered and residential neighborhoods parking spaces. Members do not need to drive the car back to its original location or commit to a predetermined amount of time. They can simply drive the car for as long as they need it, park the car at their individual destination, end the rental by swiping the card on the windshield reader, and instantly the car becomes available for the next member to use.