car2go (which is part of Daimler North America Corporation) has just finished its first full year in San Diego (its home base). car2go is North America’s first all-electric carsharing service. Some stats from the smart fortwo electric daddy:
- “Since the launch of car2go in San Diego in November 2011, more than 12,500 people have registered as members of car2go, and more than 200,000 trips have been taken in the smart fortwo electric drive car2go vehicles.”
- “Prior to the launch of car2go in Nov. 2011, there were reportedly 800 electric vehicles (EV) in San Diego. With the introduction of car2go, an additional 300 smart fortwo electric drive cars have been brought to San Diego, increasing the city’s total number of EVs by nearly 40 percent.”
- “Since the introduction of car2go, the EV community in San Diego has grown exponentially to nearly 13,500 EV users, making San Diego one of the top cities in the world for electric vehicle drivers.”
- “car2go launched in San Diego with approximately 500 trips per week. Today the average number of car2go trips per week has increased to between 5,000 and 6,000. The average trip lasts less than 30 minutes, and the average distance driven in a car2go is between 3 and 7 miles.”
At a ceremony to mark the day, car2go also launched a new car2go Charging Depot. For those of you familiar with San Diego, the charging depot is in the East Village. It includes 30 BLINK charging stations. “Currently there are approximately 45 public EV charging stations located within the car2go Home Area (http://sandiego.car2go.com/SanDiegoOperatingArea.pdf), but the car2go Charging Depot will nearly double that number, further demonstrating the company’s commitment to bringing the most convenient carsharing options to its members.”
Kudos to Daimler and car2go for advancing electric vehicle use, familiarity, and charging infrastructure!