NOTE: For London and Birmingham UK residents, you might want to look at the bottom of this post for some good deals!
One of the things I hate in the world is Driving. Seriously. Whilst I appreciate the freedom it gives you, it also lumps you with a lot of responsibilities – be it fuel, insurance, servicing… and other drivers.
A money pit which I’d rather invest in flying.
Now, as I live a mile away from the heart of Birmingham City Centre, so my commute the office is on a tram or a bus. As such, a car has never been top of my priority list – and even then, I’ve restricted it to weekend rentals or taxi’s when going home late at night after working in a Studio.
Recently, a 3rd option has arrived in Birmingham, and it’s in the form of a Car club called “Car2Go“.
Parked up on Colmore Row, Central Birmingham
Parked up near St Pauls Church, Birmigham
The front of a Smart FourTwo parked up in the Jewlery Quarter – Birmingham.
The back of a Smart FourTwo
Car2Go operates a fleet of 250 (yes, 250) Smart FourTwo petrol/gasoline powered cars
Car2Go is a bit like other shared car rental clubs – dump a car with a card reader in it, drive it, park it, pay for the use:
The interesting thing to me was the promised costs:
- 35p/minute when rented
- £14.95 an hour
- £59.00 a day
- £29.90 sign-up (currently free – see the bottom of the post)
Considering you’re looking at £40-£50 on a good day to hire a car, this seemed good. The offer is even better when you take into account that the 35p a minute also includes:
- Insurance
- Road fund
- Petrol costs
As you can see, this is targeted at the city dweller as opposed for those who live in the suburbs. A quick look at the map of cars and the “Home Area” the cars are in shows this:
Car in the Birmingham Area – Data Car2Go via the iPhone App.
Well. To say I was intrigued would be an understatement. So much so, when I was in the Bullring in Birmingham, they were showing off one of their little Smart Four-Two’s, with a promise of waiving the signup fee, along with 30 free minutes of Car2Go access
Well, that’s a no brainer.
As I didn’t have my driving licence on me, I registered at home, and supplied my driving licence information. After that, I wandered down to the store they have in Fleet Street, Birmingham to complete registration (mainly to identify if I had any points on my licence – and I’m a good boy as I don’t have any points!)
With that done, I was issued a RFID Card which unlocks the cars, and I was cleared to drive.
So lets see what this is all about then. Well, first up is the car. And there’s a choice of A Smart Four-Two, a Smart Four-Two, a Smart Four-Two… and a Smart Four-Two. Which looks a little like this:
A Smart FourTwo parked up at Colmore Row.
The Smart FourTwo is a two seater car… and that’s all you can say about it really. It’s got an automatic/manual drive (a manumatic/touchshift/tiptronic gearbox), a Radio and Two seats, as well as an immobiliser and eco saving features.
Obviously, this required a test drive.. or more. Finding a car actually wasn’t difficult thanks to the provided apps that allow me to trace a car. You can also reserve a car too through the app for up to 30 minutes before you need it.
Accessing the car is simple – wave the RFID Card at the car reader, and it unlocks the car…
But not this car…. (its reserved!)
Unlocking a Car2Go Smart FourTwo.
Once you’re in the cockpit looks like this:
From the outside.
Driving position – indicators on the left, windscreen controls on the right, multifunction speedo in the centre of the dashboard, with the wheel sticking out. To the left is the management computer.
Once you’re in the car, you have to provide a PIN code on the management computer.
Management computer – note the key to the car is to the right of it.
Passenger Area (Car2Go Smart FourTwo’s allow one passenger – and that’s it!)
Once unlocked, you’re asked to confirm there is no damage and the condition of the car. After that, you remove the key and place it into the centre console near the gearbox
Key in-situ. Note the gearbox. I’ll get onto that in a minute.
After making sure the car is in neutral, and disabling the immobiliser, you’re all set to drive.
Driving a Smart FourTwo is an interesting experience, with some bullet point thoughts:
- The driving position is easy to set up and configure until its comfortable.
- Remembering to disable the immobiliser can be a pain (it took me multiple attempts once until I read the manual multiple times…)
- If you think a SmartCar is a slow car, think again. The engine maybe a 0.6ltr, but you can feel those turbos if you need to put your foot down.
- Handling around corners is easy – even without power steering – so those turning tight street corners is fine.
- The breaks are very responsive to say the least.
- The Semi-Automatic Gearbox is an interesting beast to say the least – for those of you used to driving with manual transmission, you shift up and down the gears by pulling the gear controller up or down. It does take time to adjust (it took me a few attempts to understand how it works, when to change gear and such). Certainly, I’d suggest driving on the slow roads before driving on busy city centre roads.
Once I finished driving, I parked up, turned off the engine, logged off the car, and exited. I then used the RFID pass to lock the car… and that was it. I was billed instantly.
And most of my rentals since have followed the exact same pattern:
- Find a car/Book a car
- Unlock it
- Log on
- Drive
- Park in a council parking space or normal on-street parking.
- Log off
- Billed.
Invoicing is done electronic, with minutes charged for. Car2Go also gives you 20 minutes of free drive time if you need to fill up the car you’re in (as there’s a Shell Fuel Card inside the car).
So what were my costs for the month of July? Well it was a wallet breaking busting of
£21.70
Or
62 minutes of drive-time
Not too shabby at all – considering I used the car when I needed it, and all costs were included in the 35p a minute charge (with the BMI Credit Card taking the hit – anything for extra miles/Avios!!!) .
How does this compare with a taxi? Quite well actually. I tend to finish at my studio quite late on a Saturday night (3am into the next day normally), so I hail a black cab to go home. This costs between £11 and £12 a trip for 4 miles or so, is a fair old wack. The same journey in a Car2Go costed… £4.20.
So whilst it won’t beat the bus, it does favour well for city driving – which is what the cars are for.
Car2Go operates in the following countries and cities
Austria
- Vienna
Canada
- Calgary
- Toronto
- Vancouver
Germany
- Berlin
- Cologne
- Düsseldorf
- Hamburg
- Munich
- Stuttgart
- Ulm
Netherlands
- Amsterdam
United Kingdom
- London
- Birmingham
USA
- Austin
- Columbus
- Denver
- Miami
- Minneapolis
- Portland
- San Diego
- Seattle
- South Bay, Los Angeles
- Washington DC
Overall:
If you’re a city dweller, and you have a minimal need for a car that doesn’t extend for a full day hire, look no further – it’s a great pick-up/drop-off solution, at a reasonable price point that doesn’t penalise you too much. If used effectivily, it can reduce the cost of travel – whilst maintaining convenience and freedom.
All good things in my book.
Car2Go are also offering some reasonable discounts for new renters in London and Birmingham:
LONDON
London users get 15 Free minutes + Free Signup (worth £29 for the signup, £5.25 drive time) – http://london.car2go.com
BIRMINGHAM
Birmingham users get 30 Free minutes + Free Signup (worth £29 for the signup, £10.50 drive time) – http://birmingham.car2go.com
So if you live in the areas car2go covers, it’s worth investigating. They do have deals more often than not that could save a few pennies along the line…