car2go Celebrates One Year Anniversary of Electric Vehicle Carsharing in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- car2go North America LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, celebrates today its first full year of business in San Diego, home of North America's first  all-electric carsharing  network.  Since the launch of car2go in San Diego in November 2011, more than 12,500 people have registered as members of car2go, and more than 200,000 trips have been taken in the smart fortwo electric drive car2go vehicles. In a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the car2go office tonight, the company will unveil the new car2go Charging Depot in the East Village, further  demonstrating its commitment to bringing the best urban mobility solutions to the City of San Diego and its residents.

"As we celebrate the success of car2go in San Diego today, we mark a very important moment in the history of modern transportation and electric-vehicle adoption," said Nicholas Cole, president and CEO of car2go North America LLC. "In just one year, car2go members and the City of San Diego have  embraced an entirely  new form of mobility, our members have adapted their lifestyle to include a diverse mix of clean transportation options, and collectively they are truly setting an outstanding example to the rest of the world in terms of emissions-free mobility."

Cole went on to say, "It is the mission of car2go to provide the most convenient, flexible and fun transportation solutions to our members. The introduction of the new car2go Charging Depot will bring an entirely new level of availability and ease of use to car2go members in San Diego, and we expect to have a very positive response from the community."

Prior to the launch of car2go in Nov. 2011, there were reportedly 800 electric vehicles (EV) in San  Diego.  With the introduction of car2go, an additional 300 smart fortwo electric drive cars have been brought to San Diego, increasing the city's total number of EVs by nearly 40 percent.

Since the introduction of car2go, the EV community in San Diego has grown exponentially to nearly 13,500 EV users, making San Diego one of the top cities in the world for electric vehicle drivers.

Today, the 300 car2go vehicles are collectively used among more than 12,500 members of the car2go carsharing program in San Diego, and that number continues to grow each day. car2go launched in San Diego with approximately 500 trips per week. Today the average number of car2go trips per week has increased to between 5,000 and 6,000. The average trip lasts less than 30 minutes, and the average distance driven in a car2go is between 3 and 7 miles.

Unveiling the New car2go Charging Depot

To keep up with the growing demand for electric-vehicle carsharing in San Diego, car2go will unveil a new EV charging depot in the East Village this week during its one year anniversary celebration and a ceremonial ribbon cutting. This new charging depot will feature 30 BLINK charging stations and will allow the car2go Fleet Team to charge vehicles during off-peak hours, thus increasing the availability of car2gos during peak hours.

Although the car2go Fleet Team re-charges vehicles continually throughout each day, members are asked to end their trips at a charging station if the level of charge drops below 20 percent during their trip. Currently there are approximately 45 public EV charging stations located within the car2go Home Area (http://sandiego.car2go.com/SanDiegoOperatingArea.pdf), but the car2go Charging Depot will nearly double that number, further demonstrating the company's commitment to bringing the most convenient carsharing options to its members. Details for the one year anniversary event are as follows.

How It Works

car2go  members  can  easily locate a car on the street anywhere within the car2go Home Area, via a smartphone app, via the car2go vehicle finder on the car2go website, by calling the customer call center, or simply by finding  an available car on the street. Unlike traditional carsharing, members can begin their trip spontaneously or reserve a vehicle up to 15 minutes in advance without committing to a mandatory return time or specific location.  Members can use the cars for as long as they would like and pay only for the time they use the vehicle. Parking, insurance, re-charging and maintenance are included at no additional cost, and there are no annual fees.

Register Now! Lifetime Membership + 30 Minutes of Driving for $10

car2go is currently offering a lifetime membership plus 30 minutes of driving time for just $10. Those interested in becoming a car2go member can register at SanDiego.car2go.com with the promotion code FALL2012 to redeem this offer.

About car2go

A wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler, car2go offers an innovative mobility solution redefining individual  transportation in rapidly growing urban areas by offering a network of several hundred environment-friendly smart fortwo vehicles for rent. It provides an innovative mode of "on-demand" transportation, which complements existing public transportation alternatives by bridging the gaps commonly associated with the "first and last mile" of a public transit commute.

car2go is currently operational in 16 cities worldwide: Austin, Texas; Vancouver,  British  Columbia; San Diego, California; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Oregon; Toronto, Ontario; Calgary, Alberta;Miami, Florida; Ulm, Germany; Hamburg, Germany;  Amsterdam,  Netherlands;  Vienna, Austria; Dusseldorf,  Germany;  Berlin,  Germany;  Stuttgart,  Germany  and Cologne, Germany. In November 2011, car2go launched the world's largest all-electric vehicle  carsharing network in the cities of San Diego, California, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, with  the  deployment  of 300 car2go smart fortwo electric drive vehicles  in each city. Today car2go launched its third all-electric carsharing network in the city of Stuttgart, also with 300 car2go smart fortwo electric drive vehicles. Currently, there are more than 250,000 car2go members worldwide.

The innovation and environmental sustainability of car2go have earned international acclaim: In 2012, car2go was named the "Best Carshare" by the Vancouver Courier. In September 2010, car2go was recognized by the Austin Chamber of Commerce with the "Greater Austin Business Award" for its positive impact on traffic in the city. The same month, car2go received the "Clean Tech Media Award" in the category of "Mobility" in Berlin. In May 2010, car2go was honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with its prestigious "2010 EPA Clean Air Excellence Award."

Further information on car2go is available at car2go.com and media.daimler.com/ms/car2go/e.

About Daimler

Daimler AG is one of the world's most successful automotive companies. With its divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world's biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance and innovative mobility services.

The company's founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, Daimler continues to shape the future of mobility today: The Group's focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe  and superior automobiles that appeal to and fascinate its customers.  For many years now, Daimler has been investing continually in the development of alternative  drive systems with the goal of making emission-free driving possible in the long term. So in addition to vehicles with  hybrid drive, Daimler now  has  the  broadest  range of locally emission-free electric vehicles powered by batteries and fuel cells. This is just one example of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibility toward society and the environment.

Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has production facilities on five continents. Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the world's most valuable premium automotive  brand,  Mercedes-Benz, the brands smart, Maybach, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, Fuso, Setra, Orion and Thomas Built Buses. The company is listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and Stuttgart (stock exchange symbol DAI).  In 2011, the Group sold 2.1 million vehicles and employed a workforce of more than 271,000 people; revenue totaled €106.5 billion and EBIT amounted to € 8.8 billion.

SOURCE car2go North America LLC