We take a look at pay-as-you-go rental schemes. Could they save you money? Could you live without your car?
What's the big idea?
In recent years we've seen the rise of commercial car clubs: companies offering cars for hire on an hourly basis, booked as and when you need to use them. These companies have thousands of cars throughout the country ready to drive away from convenient city-centre and suburban locations.
There are several operators (the big four are City Car Club, Streetcar, WhizzGo and Zipcar), but the basic idea is much the same: you pay a yearly membership charge and then go online (or make a phone call) to book a car when you need it. You then walk to the car, swipe your membership card over the windscreen to unlock it, and drive away.
The price varies from provider to provider but is typically in the region of £4-£6 per hour (including fuel). Between them the four majors cover Bath, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Guildford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, St. Albans and York, with other cities to follow.
Internationally Zipcar (which started in Boston, MA, as far back as 1999) has cars in over 50 US cities and more than 100 university campuses. In Europe, GreenWheels is dominant in the Netherlands and Germany, but the country with the most car-sharers per capita is Switzerland, where the first clubs emerged in 1987.
Arguments for
Frugal. Unless you drive for a living, or drive to and from work, the yearly cost of using a pay-as-you-go car is a fraction of what you'd spend on car ownership. You don't have to worry about the cost of monthly repayments, depreciation, insurance, fuel (up to a daily mileage cap), road tax or residents' parking permits. If you live in London, some of the providers also factor in the cost of the Congestion Charge.
Fun. You get to try out a number of different vehicles and aren't tied-down to driving the same car day in, day out. Between them, the car clubs operate family hatchbacks, hybrids (Toyota Prius, Honda Insight), frugal diesels (Vauxhall Corsa Eco, VW Golf Bluemotion) and even Mini Coopers.
Green. For each pay-as-you-go car there are typically 30 car club members. If each of these members replace an existing car with car club membership this takes 29 cars off the road. The fewer cars there are on the road, the less carbon is expended in the production of new cars. In congested city centres this could lead to fewer parked cars which would lead to less driving around hunting for spaces (and the wasted fuel and unnecessary emissions this creates).
Convenience. Because many car clubs have locations in different cities somebody from Manchester, for instance, can use a car when they visit Birmingham or Edinburgh.
Arguments against
Availability. You can't guarantee that there will be a car available in a location convenient to you. Of course you can book far in advance, but you can't always drive away whenever the fancy takes you. Inevitably pay-as-you-go cars are more popular at the weekends, making spontaneous day trips less likely.
Ownership. There's a social status to car ownership that isn't always trumped by the satisfaction of doing one's bit for the environment. Some of the companies insist on plastering their cars with logos, making it impossible to pretend that you're driving your own wheels.
Other users. Although there are contractual penalties for breaking the rules, it's not uncommon to find the car you have booked hasn't arrived back yet, or that the interior is littered, or the fuel tank close to empty (car club members are expected to fill up the cars when necessary, using the pre-payment card in the glove compartment).
Pets. Quite understandably, most car clubs forbid the carrying of pets. But this can be hard on environmentally-minded dog walkers.
Longer journeys. Car clubs only really make sense for short, urban journeys. If you want to book a car for an entire weekend, or need to drive from city to city, then traditional rental cars are more cost-effective.
Related links
Smart idea? Have your say...
Would you ditch your own car if there was a car club vehicle parked on your street? Or could you not bear to share? Let us know your thoughts on pay-as-you-go cars.
More motoring schemes and ideas
A very interesting idea which needs developing further in order to take into account the entrenched values, beliefs and assumptions illustrated in these comments which will take time to challenge and change. But without beginning to meet the challenges posed by vehical use, nothing can change. And change we must whether we like it or not, for enviornmental and fiscal cir@#$%stances at home and globally have already put those changes in motion. Whatever the individual or collective motivation for change, I cannot see society NOT evolving and changing. So it would be absurd to just allow change to happen unchecked (through government intervention and legislation for instance), with the potential for unrealised and inadvertent mistakes or disasters, when we have the choice to be conscious of our part in change in vehicle use and accept the responsibility required of us for a successful outcome. M.Scott-Peck put it most succinctly in his book ' The Road Less Travelled' - "we cannot solve life's problems except by solving them". II look forward to a pay-as-you-go-car-centre it arriving in my area because, at the very least, personally,it will enable me to be in a one-car-only family enjoying the benefit of shared financial savings. And, socially, in order to provide links between home, work, shops and pay-as-you-go centres, it will force our local and national governments to reinstate what was once a fine "public" transport system financed by, run by and used by - us, the public. Indeed, there is a very good argument here, for a British Transport System altogether. I applaud the concept of 'pay-as-you-go motoring and hope everyone can gradually address their resentments and fears in order for it to develop into a very feasible, convenient and workable-for-eryone solution to the biggest problem facing us all now.
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Pure Pants Idea! Its a money making racket for the rental companies, who are playing on peoples guilt about car ownership, Lots of us need to drive on a regular basis,I will continue with car ownership both out of need and for pleasure! I also have a motorcycleand if you want to reduce congestion on our roads GET ON A BIKE
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Give me a taxi every time for short trips. Longer trips; Train or coach.
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what u dont have u cant lose can u marvin barber in highbury N5
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This would not be practical for me as i am a full-time home carer and need a car at every opportunity especially in emergencies, although i do find this is a good idea for some people, also everyday i drive the person i care for to varies hospitals to keep appointments so if you work out £6x 5 =£30 then £30x52weeks=£1560 a year a lot of money to me too.
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We think about moving and living in a city. That is when we see this to be an excellent service. We wold not create or accept messy cars..
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Why are some people so aggressive about this. For me this works perfectly and I fully accept that it is not for everybody. Most of the time I do not need a car, so the 5-6 times a year I need a car for a couple of hours or half a day it is brilliant. Its not meant to replace the car for people that need it everyday. And yes in a rural environment you do need a car everyday, however if you live in a city with decent transport links to work you often do not need a car fulltime. In these cir@#$%stances this is very good. I know I could rent a car for a day as well but often they are at airports etc and this scheme allows me to walk to one within 15 minutes. And by the way...it is private enterpise and not something we pay for with our tax moneies.
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I much preffer the comfort of my Range Rover, who cares about the fuel consumption? I like knowing when I leave my personal belongings in my car, they will be there when I want them.
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How does it take cars off the road?. If you are not driving your car it's not on the road. Although it may well suit some people that live in towns and cities, I prefer to have my own car that I know what has happened to it, and not have one that could have damaged tyres or suspension through hitting kerbs or potholes.
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How does it take cars off the road?. If you are not driving your car it's not on the road. Although it may well suit some people that live in towns and cities, I prefer to have my own car that I know what has happened to it, and not have one that could have damaged tyres or suspension through hitting kerbs or potholes.
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