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DriveNow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused withReachNow,a former BMW carsharing service.
DriveNow
Company typePrivate(GmbH & Co. KG)
IndustryCar rental
FoundedJune 2011(2011-06)
Defunct2019(2019)
FateMerged with car2go
SuccessorShare Now
Headquarters
Munich
,
Germany
ServicesCarsharing
ParentBMW
Websitewww.drive-now.com

DriveNowwas aone-way carsharingservice wholly owned by the automotive manufacturerBMW.[1] In 2019, DriveNow andcar2go,a carsharing service fromDaimler AG,merged to form the global mobility providerShare Now,[2]with a combined fleet of 20,000 vehicles in 31 cities in 14 countries and over four million members worldwide.[3][4]Share Now is one of the five mobility services which are part of the mobility joint venture of the BMW Group and the Daimler AG.[5]

DriveNow service began in Munich,Germanyin June 2011.[6]As of October 2017, DriveNow operated over 6,000 vehicles in nine European countries.[7]Apart from five cities in Germany - Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Düsseldorf, and Cologne - DriveNow is available inVienna,Copenhagen,Brussels,Milan,HelsinkiandLisbon.[8]In October 2017, the company reached the milestone of one million customers.[9]

DriveNow operated a fleet comprising only vehicles manufactured by subsidiaries of BMW Group including variousMINImodels (3 and 5 door, Convertible, Clubman, Countryman) as well as BMW X1, X2, i3, 1 series, and 2 series.[10]

Created as a joint venture betweenBMW Groupand the car rental companySixt SEholding 50% of shares each, DriveNow became a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW in March 2018. On 29 January 2018, BMW announced that Sixt SE had agreed to sell its 50% stake for c. €209 million.[11]In April 2018, BMW Group and Daimler AG agreed to combine their mobility services, including their car sharing devices DriveNow and car2go, to shape sustainable urban mobility for the future.[12]

A similarBMWservice,ReachNow,was offered in North American cities from April 2016 to July 2019, inSeattle, Washington,Portland, OregonandBrooklyn, New York.In contrast to DriveNow, ReachNow's technology platform was provided by RideCell rather than Sixt.[13]

Operation

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Cities

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The following table details all cities where DriveNow operated:

City Country Vehicles Type Start date End date Ref.
Munich Germany 750 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric June 2011 [14]
Berlin Germany 1400 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric September 2011 [15]
Hamburg Germany 620 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric October 2013 [16]
Düsseldorf Germany 310 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric January 2012 [17]
Cologne Germany 310 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric September 2012 [18]
Vienna Austria 720 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric October 2014 [19]
London United Kingdom 720 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric December 2014 29 February 2020 [20][21]
Copenhagen Denmark 550 Gasoline, Electric September 2015 [22]
Stockholm Sweden 400 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric October 2015 31 October 2018 [23][24]
Brussels Belgium 310 Gasoline, Electric July 2016 29 February 2020 [25]
Milan Italy 500 Gasoline, Electric October 2016 [26]
Helsinki Finland 150 Gasoline, Electric May 2017 29 February 2020 [27]
Lisbon Portugal 210 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric September 2017 3 March 2020 [28]
Budapest Hungary 250 Gasoline, Diesel, Electric May 2019 [29]

One-way car sharing model

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SeveralBMW ActiveEin service for DriveNow charging atGoogleplexinMountain View, California

In contrast to classic car rental, where a vehicle is rented at a designated location and typically returned after one or more days, one-way carsharing models allows the use of freely parked vehicles in the city area, or business area. Vehicles can be found and rented through an app on the phone. Driving charge is by a minute rate that ranges between€0.24 to€0.57 per minute depending on the vehicle and business area.[27]The price includes fuel, parking, and insurance.[30]DriveNow also offers packages to make the per minute rate cheaper. Vehicles can be parked back anywhere in the business area of the city.[31]Typically, the car must be parked in the same city as it was rented. The exception is in Düsseldorf and Cologne.[32]

App

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An app for mobile devices allow users to locate and reserve vehicles. When reserving a car online, the customers are able to see the car's fuel gauge (gasoline-powered cars) or the battery's state of charge (electric-powered cars), so if the customer wants to go for an extended drive, they can find the right car for that trip. Cars can also be opened and closed through the app.[33]

Vehicles

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DriveNow Car Sharing MINI Cooper
DriveNow Car Sharing Mini Cooper

DriveNow operates a variety of gasoline-powered and dieselBMW 1 Series,BMW 2 Series,BMW X2 series,BMW X1,Mini Countryman,Mini Clubman,Mini ConvertibleandMini Coopervehicles as well the electric-poweredBMW i3andBMW ActiveE.[34]In theSan Francisco Bay Area,DriveNow deployed a fleet of 70 BMW ActiveE electric cars by July 2015.[35]

Electric driving

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DriveNow Electric Driving with BMW i3 DriveNow once claimed to offer the largest electric car sharing fleet in the world, using BMW i3, BMW i3 Rex, and BMW Active E. Since 15 July 2015, a total of 724 full-electric BMW i3s have been in regular operation in the fleets of Berlin (130 vehicles), Hamburg, Cologne / Düsseldorf[36]and Munich.[37]The BMW ActiveE in Berlin and Munich were thus replaced. In London, DriveNow offered the BMW i3 from May 2015 till closure and could thus benefit from tax relief.[38]In Copenhagen, DriveNow launched a purely electric fleet of 400 vehicles in September 2015.[39]

References

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  1. ^"DriveNow comes to Helsinki".CleanTechnica.Retrieved15 December2017.
  2. ^"car2go and DriveNow join forces for new car-sharing firm".AirqualityNews.com.Retrieved11 June2019.
  3. ^"SHARE NOW:Facts and figures".car2go.Retrieved11 June2019.
  4. ^"car2go and DriveNow join forces: SHARE NOW to become the biggest free-floating carshare provider worldwide".Cision Newswire.Retrieved11 June2019.
  5. ^"car2go and DriveNow join forces for new car-sharing firm".AirqualityNews.com.Retrieved11 June2019.
  6. ^"What San Francisco taught BMW Group about car-sharing".Fortune.Retrieved15 December2017.
  7. ^"car2go and DriveNow join forces for new car-sharing firm".AirqualityNews.com.Retrieved11 June2019.
  8. ^"DriveNow to Launch Carsharing Service in Lisbon".Autorentalnews.Retrieved15 December2017.
  9. ^"DriveNow reaches one million customers milestone".Fleetnews.Retrieved15 December2017.
  10. ^"DriveNow Carsharing with BMW and MINI".DriveNow.Retrieved18 December2017.
  11. ^"Sixt to sell its DriveNow stake to BMW".Reuters.Retrieved29 January2018.
  12. ^"DriveNow and car2go combine to offer extended ride-sharing services".Retrieved10 April2018.
  13. ^"BMW Restarts Car-Sharing in the U.S. With New Name and Tech".Fortune.Retrieved18 December2017.
  14. ^"DriveNow Munich".DriveNow Website.Retrieved19 September2017.
  15. ^"DriveNow Car Sharing in Berlin".DriveNow Website.Retrieved20 November2017.
  16. ^"DriveNow Factsheet"(PDF).DriveNow Website.Retrieved20 November2017.
  17. ^"DriveNow Dusseldorf".DriveNow Website.Retrieved20 November2017.
  18. ^"DriveNow Factsheet".DriveNow Website.Retrieved20 November2017.
  19. ^"DriveNow Launches in Vienna, Austria with Discount".Sixt Car Hire Blog.Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2016.Retrieved18 November2014.
  20. ^"BMW and Sixt join forces with DriveNow scheme to make city driving cheaper".Auto Express.
  21. ^"Important Message (London Discontinuation)".DriveNow Website (UK).
  22. ^"400 BMW i3s Headed For DriveNow Car Sharing Service in Copenhagen".InsideEVs.Retrieved6 January2016.
  23. ^"DriveNow Car Sharing in Stockholm".DriveNow(in German).Retrieved22 November2017.
  24. ^"DriveNow Stockholm Shutting Down Operations Oct 31st".www.drive-now.com.Retrieved18 July2018.
  25. ^"DriveNow Car Sharing in Brussels".DriveNow(in German).Retrieved22 November2017.
  26. ^"DriveNow Car Sharing in Milan".DriveNow(in German).Retrieved22 November2017.
  27. ^ab"DriveNow Car Sharing in Helsinki".Retrieved18 May2017.
  28. ^"DriveNow Carsharing to Launch in Lisbon".Automotive Fleet.Retrieved14 September2017.
  29. ^"DriveNow Car Sharing Budapest".Retrieved1 May2019.
  30. ^"DriveNow UK How it works".DriveNow Website.Retrieved3 April2017.
  31. ^"DriveNow UK Business Area".DriveNow Website.Retrieved3 May2017.
  32. ^"DriveNow Car Sharing Affordable way to have a car in the city".DriveNow Website.2 June 2015.Retrieved12 May2016.
  33. ^"Schneller, besser, einfacher: Unsere neue App | DriveNow Blog".
  34. ^"DriveNow Vehicles".DriveNow.Retrieved12 April2017.
  35. ^Jon Fingas (22 August 2013)."BMW DriveNow EV car sharing comes to San Francisco Bay Area, ParkNow follows suit".Engadged.com.Retrieved6 September2013.
  36. ^DriveNow."DriveNow Dusseldorf".DriveNow.Retrieved5 March2017.
  37. ^"DriveNow Launches in Munich".27 March 2011.Retrieved5 March2017.
  38. ^"DriveNow in London".Retrieved5 March2017.
  39. ^"DriveNow in Copenhagen".Retrieved5 March2017.
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