Zipcar is the world’s leading car-sharing service with 300,000 members and 6,500 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout 26 North American states and provinces as well as in London, England. They offer more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to savvy city residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car in the city.
Increasing Efficiency Even More
Up until recently, Zipcar has only offered standard model cars; most of which have been relatively fuel efficient lie Mini Coopers, Hondas, and more than few Prius. Now, Zipcar plans to add all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to its fleet. According to their press release, Zipcar will begin testing the new “all-electric car-pod” share program with the use of two models; the (EV) Citroen c1 and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Toyota Prius. The program will debut in London most likely due to the fact that most peoples’ driving needs will fit well within the range of an all-electric vehicle.
Zipcar’s explanation of the practicality of it’s all-electric program is as follows:
While EVs are showing great promise, and increased manufacturing capacity is projected in the coming years, large-scale consumer adoption appears to be limited by two key concerns — the lack of widespread availability of charging stations and limited battery range. These two issues may curb the allure of EVs to the mainstream consumer audience for some time. However, with an average trip-duration of just under four hours and less than 25 miles, more than 95 percent of Zipcar trips would fall within the range of an EV, meaning EVs are ideally suited for early, large-scale use in Zipcar’s car sharing platform.
Zipcar’s focus on alternative vehicles extends to consumers, business and government fleets. In recent surveys, more than 85 percent of Zipcar members stated that they would be interested in driving a plug-in vehicle. Zipcar responded with the San Francisco launch of its first PHEV pilot program. Since the February launch, 75 percent of vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) in this vehicle have been powered by electric charge rather than petroleum-based fuel.
Addressing the growing needs of government and business fleet owners to reduce carbon emissions and save money, Zipcar launched FastFleet in April. In Washington D.C., Zipcar’s FastFleet technology will reduce D.C.’s government-operated fleet by 365 vehicles over the next three years and instead allow city employees to utilize a shared fleet currently composed of 97 percent alternative fuel vehicles, including natural gas and hybrid electric.
The Zipcar Effect
It has been shown that one Zipcar vehicle accommodates the car needs of up to 40 people. This means 40 people, who may have owned a car otherwise, do not, and considerable savings are realized by not only the Zipcar user, but the environment as well. While many may argue that having access to a Zipcar vehicle still encourages people to use single occupancy vehicle transport, Zipcar founder Robin Chase explains the decision making of a Zipcar user is much different from a car owner. She states that because people know they will have to reserve a vehicle at a specific time, walk to a Zipcar parking spot, and pay by the hour, they are much less likely to use the vehicle for impulsive or ‘one-stop’ trips than if they had ownership and easy access to their own vehicle. Instead they either decide not to drive to the ice cream shop, for example, or include that trip in with several others.
The Good: EVs and plug-in hybrids seem like a natural fit for Zipcar. The distances the majority of their members drive are well within the range of current vehicles in the market. Zipcars EVs further decreases the carbon footprint of its members.
The Bad: As has been stated before, EVs, in large part, merely shift emissions to power plants (unless they’re charged from renewable sources). So from a fuel-efficiency perspective use of the vehicles makes sense, but environmentally speaking, most of the methods by which EVs are charged still produce greenhouse gases. Rare Earth metals, which are already in short supply, are needed for EV batteries.
The Bottom-Line: While the use of EVs and plug-in hybrids makes sense for Zipcar members’ needs, and possibly Zipcar’s bottom line, the environmental benefits are still up to debate.
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