There’s consolidation afoot in the peer-to-peer car rental space. San Francisco-based RelayRides, which launched about five years ago and is now available nationwide, has gobbled up fledgling competitor Wheelz. That includes all the assets, IP, and about 10 employees from Wheelz, which launched about a year-and-a-half ago. → Read More
Hot on the heels of an acquisition by Avis announced earlier this week, Zipcar will be piloting a no-fee membership option beginning today in Toronto and Vancouver. The new ‘Access Plan’ pilot project carries no annual driving fee, like its existing ‘Extra Value’ membership plan, but doesn’t require the Extra Value plan’s minimum of $50 in driving per month. As a trade-off, it also offers the same… → Read More
While collective consumption has really taken off in the last year thanks to the Airbnbs and Ubers of the world, carpooling and ride-sharing have been around a bit longer. But for the last few years, a number of ride-sharing startups have been making headway in areas where carpooling traditionally has lacked, like safety — the biggest obstacle standing in the way of mass adoption for collective… → Read More
Car sharing is suddenly a hot topic and a number of startups like Getaround, Wheelz and JustShareIt are trying to capture a slice of this nascent market. Detroit-based RelayRides just leapfrogged quite a few of these by partnering with General Motor’s OnStar service. Using OnStar’s proprietary API, which will become available to other developers later this summer, the company’s potential users now… → Read More
San Francisco-based HiGear, a peer-to-peer car-sharing service for luxury vehicles, has been acquired. The news follows the company’s decision to shut down operations last month, after a criminal ring targeted HiGear, resulting in multiple incidents of theft involving its members’ cars. The criminals stole four cars totaling $400,000 by using stolen identities to bypass HiGear’s background… → Read More
San Francisco-based HiGear, a peer-to-peer car-sharing service focused on luxury vehicles, is shutting down due to theft incidents involving its members’ cars. According to CEO Ali Moiz, the company will send out an email tomorrow to its members with a full explanation. The news may come as a shock to some, given that HiGear was seemingly doing so well in recent months. The company had expanded… → Read More
Luxury car-sharing service HiGear is announcing a new product called “Swap Club,” which will allow its existing car owners the opportunity to swap cars among each other in exchange for HiGear points. To participate in the “Swap Club,” vehicle owners will either need to accumulate points by renting out their cars on HiGear or they can optionally purchase points via HiGear’s website. → Read More
General Motors is partnering with a car-sharing startup called RelayRides on a new venture that will allow GM owners to rent out their idle vehicles via the OnStar service and their mobile phone. The program will launch first in California in 2012, before expanding to other markets. → Read More
Ford Motor Company and the leading car-sharing network Zipcar have just announced a partnership that establishes Ford as Zipcar’s largest auto source for Zipcar’s University program. The new, two-year alliance will reach students at over 250 university campuses here in the U.S.
Ford will start shipping its vehicles, primarily the 2012 Ford Focus and Ford Escape, to colleges starting this week. → Read More
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