I recently joined a car club here in Oxford.
A car club is an arrangement between a group of people to have shared use of a vehicle or group of vehicles. Sometimes the vehicle is owned by the group, but many car clubs are for-profit businesses.
I have been hearing about car clubs through my research for some time now: I have friends in London who have been using car clubs since the mid-2000s.
I finally had the need for a vehicle and decided to go for a car club, rather than the normal car hire company (e.g. Avis, Thrifty).
From the outset, the whole process was rather different from a traditional car hire: I didn't meet anyone, I didn't go to a car lot and I didn't sign any papers.
In Oxford, there are a few different car clubs on offer, with cars spread throughout the city. I used Zipcars because they had a car parked closest to my home, but they all appeared to be priced relatively similarly - about €6/hour ($NZ10) for the smallest car. And this includes petrol (there is a card inside each car that can be used to fuel the car if it is running low)!
After joining online, and giving my licence details, I downloaded the app and chose my car.
I went for the smallest option, but there are cars of all sizes, and even small vans for hire.
I walked to the car at the allotted time, and found it in its car park in a relatively new housing development. The car park is marked by a sign saying ‘‘Car Club Only'', other than that, there were no visual markings to identify the car as being part of a club.
To open the car, I used the app.
Yep, no keys here!
There are six rules of Zipcar membership, that I am sure are similar across all car-sharing companies:
• Report damage (including dirt and low fuel) to the company straight away
• Keep it clean
• No smoking
• Always leave a quarter of a tank of petrol
• Return on time
• Put pets in carriers
My car was a Ford Focus, a nice new-ish car, the kind I would expect from a traditional car hire company.
The foot-wells had a little bit of mud in them, but apart from that, I wouldn't have known someone else had been driving it recently.
The whole experience was fabulous.
No petrol costs, no parking fees, just access to a car when required. I am already planning my next trip!
It seems to me that this type of service would be valuable in Dunedin, and many other towns in Otago. Many households have vehicles parked on their driveways for 80% of the week. The ‘‘just-in-case'' vehicle. Car clubs could reduce the need for the second, or third (or fourth) vehicle.
Are we ready for sharing our cars? Only time will tell.
Debbie Hopkins is a reseacher in low carbon mobility and energy demand at the University of Oxford Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand.
Each week in this column, one of a panel of writers addresses issues of sustainability.
