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I'm not sure it does. Lime had their LimePods car share program which used Fiat 500s and they shut down their program as well, although they wouldn't comment on

I'm not sure it does. Lime had their LimePods car share program which used Fiat 500s and they shut down their program as well, although they wouldn't comment on the economics or the program (https://www.geekwire.com/2019/lime-shutters-limepod-raising-questions-viability-free-floating-car-sharing-model/ https://www.geekwire.com/2019/lime-shutters-limepod-raising-...). In Seattle, over the past few years, we've had car2go, ReachNow, and Lime all attempt the on demand car sharing and all three have eventually shut their programs down. Only ZipCar has managed to stick around, but their pricing model is a bit different and requires a monthly subscription. Based on that, my gut says that this no subscription, hop in, hop out car sharing just doesn't make money no matter what car is being used (although I'd be curious to see it tried again with fully electric cars).

sukilot 7y ago
Lime has two main problems: * The app is terrible, and devotes too much UI space to spamming ads for other products while user is trying to give Lime money. * They kept responding to low utilization by raising prices to the point where it's not notably cheaper than taking a cab.
clairity 7y ago
price/cost is a real issue, even with electrics, if bluela[0] in LA is any indication (indianapolis has the similar blueIndy). it's an all-electric car service rented by the minute, and developed by bolloré, a french conglomerate, in collaboration with ladot. bluela is riddled with problems[1], and for many use cases, it's not cost-competitive[2]. it's basically only economical for 15-minute point-to-point trips directly from and to charging stations (which have limited coverage, all near downtown). by my (very rough) estimation, such services become attractive when they're dockless and the cost gets to $3/hr for 3-5 hour rentals (the sweet spot for most errand-running and visitation trips). otherwise, you can often find rental car deals at ~$20/day. -- [0] https://www.bluela.com/ https://www.bluela.com/ [1] not dockless, unpredictable availability (both cars and charging spots), limited range, dirty cars/chargers, frequent breakages, poor UX (both app and car), convoluted rental process, payment issues, uncaring customer service, etc. [2] 20¢/min (≃$12/hr) with a $60/yr membership (also has a low-income tier at 15¢/min)

sukilot 7y ago

Lime has two main problems: * The app is terrible, and devotes too much UI space to spamming ads for other products while user is trying to give Lime money. * They kept responding to low utilization by raising prices to the point where it's not notably cheaper than taking a cab.

clairity 7y ago

price/cost is a real issue, even with electrics, if bluela[0] in LA is any indication (indianapolis has the similar blueIndy). it's an all-electric car service rented by the minute, and developed by bolloré, a french conglomerate, in collaboration with ladot. bluela is riddled with problems[1], and for many use cases, it's not cost-competitive[2]. it's basically only economical for 15-minute point-to-point trips directly from and to charging stations (which have limited coverage, all near downtown). by my (very rough) estimation, such services become attractive when they're dockless and the cost gets to $3/hr for 3-5 hour rentals (the sweet spot for most errand-running and visitation trips). otherwise, you can often find rental car deals at ~$20/day. -- [0] https://www.bluela.com/ https://www.bluela.com/ [1] not dockless, unpredictable availability (both cars and charging spots), limited range, dirty cars/chargers, frequent breakages, poor UX (both app and car), convoluted rental process, payment issues, uncaring customer service, etc. [2] 20¢/min (≃$12/hr) with a $60/yr membership (also has a low-income tier at 15¢/min)