Share Now

History

Daimler introduced the service in Ulm, Germany, in October 2008, where it was developed by one of its internal business innovation units and was first tested exclusively by Daimler employees.

Starting in May 2015, car2go added a $1 'Driver Protection Fee' for each ride to offset the lowered deductible.

Since inception, car2go withdrew from several locations, including Britain, where it closed its service in London and Birmingham after only a year of operation. Because of a lack of charging stations, car2go in San Diego, California, replaced its all-electric vehicle fleet with gasoline-powered cars starting on 1 May 2016. When the service started in 2011, car2go expected 1,000 charging stations to be deployed around the city, but only 400 were in place by early 2016. As a result, an average of 20% of the carsharing fleet is unavailable at any given time because the cars are either being charged or do not have enough charge to be driven.{{cite news| url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/mar/16/car-share-car2go-fleet-gas-electric/ | title=Car2Go switching electric cars to gas

In January 2018, Daimler and BMW appeared to prepare the merger of their carsharing subsidiaries to strengthen their market position. On March 1, 2018, Daimler announced that its subsidiary Daimler Mobility Services had acquired the 25% stake of minority shareholder Europcar Group for an undisclosed amount to now hold 100% of car2go's European subsidiary. The new combined company is called ShareNow.

Downsizing

In late 2019, the company announced that it would close all North American operations (New York City NY, Seattle WA, Denver CO, and Washington DC in the United States; Montreal QC, and Vancouver BC in Canada) on 29 February 2020 because of excessive competition, increasing costs of operation and its limited infrastructure for supporting electric vehicles. Service in London, Brussels and Florence would also cease because of inadequate usage. That would leave ShareNow with operations in 18 cities in Europe, locations that "show the greatest potential for profitable growth and mobility innovation", according to the company.

Acquired by Stellantis

On 3 May 2022, the acquisition of Share Now by the automobile manufacturer Stellantis was announced. The acquisition was closed on 18 July 2022 and Stellantis subsidiary Free2Move handles the Share Now ownership.

Locations

Current

The following table details all locations where ShareNow is active:

Former

The following table details all locations where Share Now is no longer active :

Fleet

The following models are active in the ShareNow fleet.**** The selection of available vehicles varies depending on the location.

• BMW: 1 Series, 2 series, 2 Series Active Tourer, i3, X1, X2
• Citroën: C3
• Fiat: 500, New 500, 500x
• Hyundai: Ioniq 5
• Mercedes-Benz: A-Class, CLA Coupe, CLA Shootingbrake, E-Class, GLA, GLB, GLC Coupé
• MINI: Cooper, Countryman, Clubman
• Opel: Corsa, Astra, Crossland
• Peugeot: 208, 2008, 308, 3008
• Renault: ZOE
• Škoda: Octavia
• smart: fortwo, fortwo EQ, forfour

Business model

The Share Now business model was similar in all markets, although rates vary by location. The company charges a per minute rate, with discounted fixed rates for hourly and daily usage also available and applied automatically. The rates are all-inclusive and cover rental, gas, insurance, parking (in authorized areas), and maintenance, a low fixed annual fee is sometimes also charged. In most markets, Share Now vehicles can be parked in either specially designated parking spots, or in standard parking areas, with a special permit from the local municipality. Users had the option of refueling cars with a supplied charge card, customers receive bonus minutes for performing this service.

Vehicles

In most cities, Share Now offered only two-passenger vehicles, namely two types of Smart Fortwo "car2go edition" vehicles: gasoline-powered, and electric-powered. The gasoline-powered cars can be found in three variants based on roof configuration: "original" with integrated solar panel roof; "upgraded" with a panoramic polycarbonate roof and power side mirrors; and "new" featuring a standard roof. Electric Share Now models were currently available in several markets, had a range of 84 mi, and needed to be recharged every two or three days.

Apps

First-party and third-party apps for mobile devices allowed users to locate and reserve vehicles. When reserving a car online, the customers are able to see the car's fuel gauge (gasoline-powered cars) or the battery's state of charge (electric-powered cars), so if the customer wants to go for an extended drive, they can find the right car for that trip.

References

References

1. (13 January 2020). "Yandex to offer car-sharing in Europe as rivals pull out". [[Financial Times]].
2. "Brand Hub {{!}} SHARE NOW".
3. Michael Sheetz. (5 December 2017). "Now New Yorkers can get a new Mercedes-Benz for 47 cents (a minute)". CNBC.
4. Stephanie Steinberg and Bill Vlasic. (25 January 2013). "Car-Sharing Services Grow, and Expand Options". [[The New York Times]].
5. (2022-05-03). "Stellantis will buy car-sharing business from BMW, Mercedes".
6. (2022-05-03). "Stellantis faces tough task to be 'Amazon of mobility'".
7. "Daimler's car2go: Rent a Smart anywhere, anytime". Autoblog.com.
8. Jeremy Korzeniewski. (21 October 2008). "Daimler's car2go: Rent a Smart anywhere, anytime". Autoblog.
9. Taylor Soper. "Car2go adds $1 'Driver Protection Fee' for each ride to offset lowered deductible - GeekWire". GeekWire.
10. (23 May 2014). "Car2go scrapped a year after setting up in Birmingham".
11. Garrick, David. (31 December 2016). "Car2go ceases San Diego operations".
12. (23 January 2018). "BMW and Daimler close to merging car-sharing units: executive". Reuters.
13. (1 March 2018). "Daimler Mobility Services purchases Europcar Group's 25% stake in car2go Europe GmbH". Daimler.
14. (18 December 2019). "Hundreds of thousands of Car2Go members to lose service as company pulls out of North America". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
15. (18 December 2019). "Share Now, formerly Car2Go, is leaving North America". The Verge.
16. (2022-05-03). "Share Now: BMW und Mercedes verkaufen Carsharing an Stellantis".
17. (2022-05-03). "Share Now: Stellantis übernimmt Carsharing von BMW und Mercedes - manager magazin".
18. (2022-07-18). "Free2move Becomes a World Leader in Mobility with Acquisition of Share Now". Stellantis.
19. "In depth: Daimler's Car2Go program is simple, amazing, but not perfect". Green.autoblog.com.
20. (19 June 2012). "eSmart III Production Commences". Fleets and Fuels.com.
21. "Car2go suspends operation in Lyon, France because of name conflict with Car' Go". Green.autoblog.com.
22. "Reif für die Insel: car2go bringt smart(e) Mobilität nach London | Daimler Global Media Site > Mercedes-Benz Cars > smart > car2go". Media.daimler.com.
23. "Daimler's car2go car-sharing service will launch in UK this fall". Green.autoblog.com.
24. (4 May 2015). "Car2go car-sharing service to suspend South Bay operations".
25. (24 June 2015). "car2go Bailing out of Eugene".
26. "Car2go shutting down in Copenhagen".
27. "Car2Go suspending business indefinitely in Miami, Miami Beach". miamiherald.
28. "Stockholms parkeringselände sätter P - Car2go lämnar Sverige". Veckans affärer.
29. "car2go Twin Cities on Twitter". Twitter.
30. "car2go San Diego on Twitter". Twitter.
31. "Important Update". news.car2go.com.
32. "Daimler Gives Up on Car-Sharing in China - Caixin Global".
33. "Car2Go-ing, going, gone! Service pulls out of five North American cities".
34. Sousa, Jéssica. (2020-03-03). "DriveNow. Carsharing service changes name and closes operations in Lisbon".
35. "Meet the Fleet {{!}} SHARE NOW Cars".
36. "Opel wird Teil der SHARE NOW Flotte: Neue Modelle für individuelle Mobilitätserlebnisse".
37. "Carsharing Flotte - Alle Autos im Überblick | SHARE NOW".