4 ms·

That cloud car probably isn't all that interesting, cost wise. You'll only use it, if you don't want the contract of a lease car. Otherwise, it'll be quite expe

That cloud car probably isn't all that interesting, cost wise. You'll only use it, if you don't want the contract of a lease car. Otherwise, it'll be quite expensive. In Europe, we have a number of car sharing systems. They all have daily prices around 70-80 euros. As soon as you need a car for two or more days a week, you might as well lease it. Leasing is cheap, compared to the car sharing prices. I think it has to do with the fact that a lot of the cost of the car is depreciation, which is highly dependent on the mileage driven. Which goes up if you share a car. Plus a shared car needs a host of care takers; app builders, help desk people, car cleaners, etc. Everyone's betting big on cloud cars, but in fact they're expensive compared to the mass produced item that's called a car.

mft_ 7y ago
I wonder whether those urban car-sharing schemes have quite low utilisation rates overall, so have relatively high prices to attempt some semblance of a business model? Two data points which might support this: 1. Consolidation. Drive Now and Car2Go (two big players) are merging. 2. ‘Traditional’ car hire can be way cheaper - we recently had a decent car for (an almost unbelievable) ~€10/day while on holiday. Now I know that we might be comparing apples with oranges here, with the car sharing companies already including features which you pay extra for with the traditional car hire, and of course there are differences in convenience... but that’s still a huge price delta.
- noizejoy 7y ago
  Actually the business model seems very much in question, judging by the fact that Share Now, formerly Car2Go, is leaving North America [1] [1] https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/18/21028517/sharenow-car2go-leaving-north-america-bmw-daimler-cities-date https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/18/21028517/sharenow-car2go...
- netsharc 7y ago
  There's a study that said people thought these car sharers would mean people would own fewer cars, but instead many car owning families used them as 2nd cars (I suppose that's better than having 2 cars per family). I lived in a Drive Now city and used them a few times a month when I thought "I'm too lazy to walk to the subway and wait, and then walk home from the subway/it's too late and the subway is 15 minutes wait", without owning my own car. It would cost maybe 5 Euro to drive home.
- csunbird 7y ago
  They are supposed to be a cab replacement, not a personal car replacement. Since they are much cheaper than cabs, it makes sense to drive instead if you have a driving license. When you can lease a car for 200 EUR per month, it does not make sense to use these services for daily use.
bambax 7y ago
For one day, yes, it can cost €60-70 but the price per day goes way down once you rent it for a week. That's what I do (3 kids, no car, only renting for holidays). Of course if you need a car for 2 days every week that doesn't quite work, and you're better off owning one. But many people living in cities don't really need a car (can't find a reference right now, but I think less than half of Paris residents own a car).
fredophile 7y ago
I used to be a member of a car co-op when I lived in Vancouver. 99% of the time I could get anywhere I needed to go on a regular basis using public transit. For the times when I needed a car I could go online and book a vehicle that was close to me and matched what I needed the vehicle for. Being able to rent either by the day or by the hour made this even more convenient.

mft_ 7y ago

I wonder whether those urban car-sharing schemes have quite low utilisation rates overall, so have relatively high prices to attempt some semblance of a business model? Two data points which might support this: 1. Consolidation. Drive Now and Car2Go (two big players) are merging. 2. ‘Traditional’ car hire can be way cheaper - we recently had a decent car for (an almost unbelievable) ~€10/day while on holiday. Now I know that we might be comparing apples with oranges here, with the car sharing companies already including features which you pay extra for with the traditional car hire, and of course there are differences in convenience... but that’s still a huge price delta.

noizejoy 7y ago
Actually the business model seems very much in question, judging by the fact that Share Now, formerly Car2Go, is leaving North America [1] [1] https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/18/21028517/sharenow-car2go-leaving-north-america-bmw-daimler-cities-date https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/18/21028517/sharenow-car2go...
netsharc 7y ago
There's a study that said people thought these car sharers would mean people would own fewer cars, but instead many car owning families used them as 2nd cars (I suppose that's better than having 2 cars per family). I lived in a Drive Now city and used them a few times a month when I thought "I'm too lazy to walk to the subway and wait, and then walk home from the subway/it's too late and the subway is 15 minutes wait", without owning my own car. It would cost maybe 5 Euro to drive home.
csunbird 7y ago
They are supposed to be a cab replacement, not a personal car replacement. Since they are much cheaper than cabs, it makes sense to drive instead if you have a driving license. When you can lease a car for 200 EUR per month, it does not make sense to use these services for daily use.

bambax 7y ago

For one day, yes, it can cost €60-70 but the price per day goes way down once you rent it for a week. That's what I do (3 kids, no car, only renting for holidays). Of course if you need a car for 2 days every week that doesn't quite work, and you're better off owning one. But many people living in cities don't really need a car (can't find a reference right now, but I think less than half of Paris residents own a car).

fredophile 7y ago

I used to be a member of a car co-op when I lived in Vancouver. 99% of the time I could get anywhere I needed to go on a regular basis using public transit. For the times when I needed a car I could go online and book a vehicle that was close to me and matched what I needed the vehicle for. Being able to rent either by the day or by the hour made this even more convenient.