As I have begun to follow the news across the shared economy, it's becoming increasingly apparent that it may be best to bucket together carsharing news. Almost everyday a service is adding to its fleet, expanding operations, or a new company is popping up somewhere. This may be a running edition every week or two, but here's my first carsharing weekly wrap-up.
- Car2Go Expands Fleet from 200 to 300 Vehicles (via statesman.com)
The only one-way reservation carshare service, Car2Go, located in Austin, TX, is expanding its fleet from 200 to 300 vehicles later this month. The company is replacing the 200 vehicles that have been on the road since the company's inception in November 2009, with a brand new fleet of 300 special-edition Daimler Smartcars. The new vehicles will feature touch-screens and solar-powered roofs to power the batteries. The changes will be rolled out between midnight March 18 and 5:00pm March 20. Unfortunately for SXSW attendees, the changes are not going to be made in time for the festival.
A Silicon Valley start-up aims to create a network of electric car drivers, who are willing to share their household power outlets and home charging stations with other drivers. Xatori launched the iPhone app, PlugShare, last week in Bay Area markets. The app locates user-loaded as well as public charging stations nearby.
- Following California's AB 1871, Oregon's HB 3149 Moves on Law to Unlock P2P Carsharing (via Shareable)
After California enacted a new law making person-to-person carsharing easier. The new law basically states that individuals can rent their vehicles to other drivers as long as the revenue does not exceed the costs of the vehicle (which would make them a car rental business) and breaks down insurance barriers for both start-ups and car owners. Oregon is following suit with HB 3149, which moved out of the House Transportation and Economic Development Committee with a 7-1 vote last week. Shareable provides much more information and I second their recommendation to take this type of law to your state's politicians.
Links to original articles are embedded above.
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