Car sharing is growing in popularity – especially amongst those living in busy city centres. The system’s success is a matter of simple finance and budgeting. If you only need to drive once a week, it’ll likely work out cheaper (and easier) to rent someone else’s car for that day through a car sharing service rather than shouldering the cost of the car, insurance, maintenance and road tax yourself.
During the pandemic, the number of used cars for sale also dwindled as buyers sought to find a place to dump their growing savings. That saw car prices rise steeply – and the market still hasn’t recovered from the spike. This uptick in prices has been compounded by the cost-of-living crisis, which has carved swathes out of motorists’ monthly budgets and forced them to look for more economical transport solutions, such as car sharing services.
By only paying as you travel, you avoid the costs of keeping a parked car. That means you skirt around factors such as depreciation and parking fees. All you need to worry about is the cost of the rental and the price of the fuel. Every other motoring bill is handled for you behind the scenes and merely factored into your rental fee. Key players in the market include ZipCar and Ubeeqo.
How does car sharing work?
First, download a car sharing application from your provider of choice. Next, use it to find a car in your area. Then, select the amount of time you need to rent it for and go to pick it up. Some firms such as ZipCar even offer a service where you can unlock the car using your phone, making the process entirely contactless.
Unlike traditional car rentals, car sharing is ‘hyperflexible.’ That means you don’t always need to drop the car off at the same location you found it and the length of time you need to rent it for can change to suit your requirements. That means you won’t need to travel to and from out-of-town hire car centres and you don’t need to only rent the car in fixed 24-hour blocks.
In London, there are dedicated parking spots dotted around the city that are reserved for ZipCar’s shared vehicles. If you’ve paid for the company’s flexible tariff, you can even end your journey by parking the car in any of these dedicated bays.
What’s a car club?
Lots of car sharing companies operate on a car club subscription model. With this, you pay a monthly fee and the provider keeps your licence details on file, which makes it easier and faster for you to rent cars in the future. Subscribers can also gain access to incentives such as loyalty benefits and discounts.
Car sharing schemes normally cost between £5 and £10 per hour, but ZipCar offers a three-tier subscription model that reduces the hourly rental fee as you climb up the ladder. So, the free option gives you a basic rental rate of £9 per hour and 60 miles worth of fuel. You also get comprehensive insurance, 24/7 breakdown cover and your congestion charge fees paid for you.
However, if you opt for the firm’s £6 per month package, the hourly rate drops to £7 – and you receive £6 of credit on your account each month. Step up to the company’s £15 per month package and your hourly rate is just £6 per hour and you’ll receive £15 of credit each month.
How much money could I save?
That depends on how many miles you drive. Allow us to throw some figures at you. During a year, the average motorist could spend around £5,500 on their vehicle, once you’ve factored in expenses such as tax, fuel, insurance and the cost of the vehicle itself. That works out at around £460 per month – but if you only drive for a few hours each week, it could work out cheaper to car share.
Say you only need a car to run a few errands and visit your family at the weekend. In total, you might be on the road for 5 hours. On ZipCar’s cheapest tariff (with its free subscription plan), that works out at around £180 each month or £2,160 per year. That’s a huge saving.
Obviously, if you drive more, you’ll pay more – and we wouldn’t recommend opting for a car sharing service if you’re covering huge miles. ZipCar, for example, charges 29p per mile once you exceed the first 60 miles. So, if you drove from London to Glasgow in a ZipCar, you’d pay £100 in excess mileage charges on top of your hourly rental rate.
How does car sharing differ from ride sharing?
We’ll put it in simple terms. Car sharing – you drive. Ride sharing – someone else drives. Ride sharing is an adopted term from American English that means giving someone a lift.
There are organised ride sharing applications (such as Lyft) and informal ride sharing channels on social media sites (such as Facebook). They’re a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to travel, as you only pay a nominal fee to tag along with someone who’s heading the same way as you.
