The car2go system is straightforward. 200 smart fortwo vehicles are made available within the city for all registered car2go members. This fleet of vehicles can be accessed 24/7. After a one-time registration process, the customers can use the service on the spot by accessing any available vehicle on the street, or can book in advance through the online reservation process. One significant difference from traditional car-sharing programs is that car2go offers cars on demand and the customers may use the vehicle for as long as they like, without committing to a specific return time. Furthermore, car2go allows users to make one way trips. Charges are not based on distance, but on time, with rates starting by the minute.

The City of Austin is the first North American city to partner with car2go. This launch follows the successful implementation of the first car2go pilot in October 2008 in the southern German city of Ulm. The 200 smarts of the first pilot are rented 500 to 1,000 times per day and they are used by 15,000 customers which equals more than 15% of the citizens who possess a driver’s license in Ulm. 90% of the participants take advantage of the unique offer to use car2go spontaneously without booking in advance and for one-way trips.

For the pilot, the pick up and drop off area is limited to the greater downtown Austin area which has an expansion of about 17 square miles where more than 60,000 employees work. The use of a car2go vehicle includes all city-controlled parking fees. car2go is paying a usage fee to the City of Austin in the form of free driving minutes for employees driving on City business.

More than 13,000 city employees have the opportunity to use the smart vehicles not only for business but also for private use. Billing rates are all-inclusive: fuel, maintenance, insurance, miles and parking. Competitive hourly or daily rates apply to longer rental periods.