Contents

Share Now

Share Now GmbH

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Car rental
Predecessors	Car2Go DriveNow
Founded	2019; 5 years ago (2019)
Headquarters	Berlin , Germany
Number of locations	16
Services	Carsharing
Owner	Stellantis
Parent	Free2Move
Website	share-now.com

Share Now GmbH is a German carsharing company, formed from the merger of Car2Go and DriveNow. Since 2022, it is a subsidiary of the Free2Move division of multinational automaker Stellantis providing carsharing services in urban areas in Europe, and formerly in North America. It has over four million registered members and a fleet of over 14,000 vehicles in 18 cities across Europe.^[1][2]

The company offered only Smart, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mini, Fiat and Citroën vehicles during the period when it was jointly owned by BMW and Mercedes-Benz and arranged one-way point-to-point rentals.^[3] Users were charged by the minute, or by hourly and daily rates.^[4] A smartphone app was used to enable hirers to access the vehicle.

Stellantis acquired ShareNow in July 2022 via its Free2Move subsidiary.

History[edit]

Daimler introduced the service in Ulm, Germany, in October 2008,^[5] where it was developed by one of its internal business innovation units and was first tested exclusively by Daimler employees.^[6]

Starting in May 2015, car2go added a $1 'Driver Protection Fee' for each ride to offset the lowered deductible.^[7]

Since inception, car2go withdrew from several locations, including Britain, where it closed its service in London and Birmingham after only a year of operation.^[8] Because of a lack of charging stations, car2go in San Diego, California, replaced its all-electric vehicle fleet with gasoline-powered cars starting on 1 May 2016. When the service started in 2011, car2go expected 1,000 charging stations to be deployed around the city, but only 400 were in place by early 2016. As a result, an average of 20% of the carsharing fleet is unavailable at any given time because the cars are either being charged or do not have enough charge to be driven.^[9] At the end of 2016 car2go left the San Diego market.^[10]

In January 2018, Daimler and BMW appeared to prepare the merger of their carsharing subsidiaries to strengthen their market position.^[11] On March 1, 2018, Daimler announced that its subsidiary Daimler Mobility Services had acquired the 25% stake of minority shareholder Europcar Group for an undisclosed amount to now hold 100% of car2go's European subsidiary. The new combined company is called ShareNow.^[12]

Downsizing[edit]

In late 2019, the company announced that it would close all North American operations (New York City NY, Seattle WA, and Washington DC in the United States; Montreal QC, and Vancouver BC in Canada) on 29 February 2020 because of excessive competition, increasing costs of operation and its limited infrastructure for supporting electric vehicles. Service in London, Brussels and Florence would also cease because of inadequate usage. That would leave ShareNow with operations in 18 cities in Europe, locations that "show the greatest potential for profitable growth and mobility innovation", according to the company.^[13][14]

Acquired by Stellantis[edit]

On 3 May 2022, the acquisition of Share Now by the automobile manufacturer Stellantis was announced.^[15][16] The acquisition was closed on 18 July 2022 and Stellantis subsidiary Free2Move handles the Share Now ownership.^[17]

Locations[edit]

Current[edit]

The following table details all locations where ShareNow is active:^[2]

indicates electric fleet

City	Country	Fleet	Start date
Amsterdam	Netherlands	300	Nov 2011
Berlin	Germany	1,800	April 2012
Copenhagen	Denmark	500	Sep 2015
Düsseldorf/Cologne	Germany	1,100	Jan 2012
Frankfurt	Germany	300	Sep 2014
Hamburg	Germany	1,100	April 2011
Madrid	Spain	600	Nov 2015
Milan	Italy	1,400	Aug 2013
Munich	Germany	1,000	June 2013
Münster	Germany
Paris	France	700	Jan 2019
Rome	Italy	600	Mar 2014
Stuttgart	Germany	350	Nov 2012
Turin	Italy	350	Mar 2015
Vienna	Austria	1,000	Dec 2011

Former[edit]

The following table details all locations where Share Now is no longer active as of July 2019^[update]:

Fleet[edit]

Business model[edit]

The Share Now business model is similar in all markets, although rates vary by location. The company charges a per minute rate, with discounted fixed rates for hourly and daily usage also available and applied automatically. The rates are all-inclusive and cover rental, gas, insurance, parking (in authorized areas), and maintenance, a low fixed annual fee is sometimes also charged. In most markets, Share Now vehicles can park in either specially designated parking spots, or in standard parking areas, with a special permit from the local municipality. Users have the option of refueling cars with a supplied charge card, customers receive bonus minutes for performing this service.

Vehicles[edit]

In most cities, Share Now offers only two-passenger vehicles, namely two types of Smart Fortwo "car2go edition" vehicles: gasoline-powered, and electric-powered. The gasoline-powered cars can be found in three variants based on roof configuration: "original" with integrated solar panel roof; "upgraded" with a panoramic polycarbonate roof and power side mirrors; and "new" featuring a standard roof.^{[citation needed]} Electric Share Now models are currently available in several markets, have a range of 84 miles (135 km), and need to be recharged every two or three days.

Apps[edit]

First-party and third-party apps 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.

See also[edit]

• Carsharing
• One-way carsharing
• Evo Car Share
• GIG Car Share
• Zipcar

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Share Now.

• Official website