DAIMLER AG - car2go North America, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, announced it has registered more than 6,000 new members for its carsharing service within the first 100 days of operations in Portland, Oregon.
Collectively car2go Portland members use the service more than 4,500 times a week, the average distance driven in a car2go is between three and six miles, and a typical trip lasts from 30 to 45 minutes.
Starting this week, the company will add 30 smart fortwo electric drive vehicles (EV) to the car2go Portland carsharing network. The EVs will join the 250 smart fortwo cars that were introduced when car2go launched in Portland on March 31, 2012.
Mayor Sam Adams of The City of Portland said of car2go's expansion, "Adding electric vehicles is the next step in an already successful carsharing collaboration between the city and car2go. Emissions-free carsharing is a natural progression for this city's overall clean transportation plan and our healthy and sustainable future."
"We knew car2go's collaborative model would be a natural fit for Portland," said Nicholas Cole, president and CEO of car2go North America. "The people of Portland have embraced car2go's on-demand model of carsharing, and adding electric cars to our network will undoubtedly serve as a catalyst for Portland to maintain its title as one of the greenest cities in the world."
In another sign of car2go's commitment to its members in Portland, the Home Area – where members can start and end their rentals – is expanding to meet the needs of customers. The new car2go Home Area will now encompass 37 square miles and starting today, it will stretch north to Lombard Street in North Portland, including Swan Island, west to NW 25th Street, and east to the on-street parking area around the Gateway Transit Center from the I-205 to NE 102nd Avenue.
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 the smartphone app, the car2go vehicle finder at car2go.com or 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 neighborhood 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.
Member registration is available online at Portland.car2go.com .
The car2go Portland office is located in the Pearl District at:
1100 NW Glisan, Suite 1B
Portland, OR 97209