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CARSHARING/ ASIA
source: carsharing.us/
www.communauto.com/abonnes/
SperlingShaheenW.html
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Right now commercial carsharing exists only in two countries in Asia - Singapore and Australia. But, talk about competition - Singapore has four CSOs! - NTUC Income Co-op (Car Co-op) is the oldest CSO in Singapore having started in 1997 by an insurance company that operates several high rise residential complexes. Reports are that they've spent US$1.5 million to get the project underway. NTUC has 30 stations with a more than 110 cars. Rates start as low as $8/hour; $38/- (weekdays from 7am to 6pm); $74/- (for 24 hours). Whizzcar is an NTUC franchise. Both use the Invers technology. Whizzcar has 24 car locations. (It's not clear whether people make jokes about ‘taking a Whizz’ in Singapore, but apparently having a picnic in a Mazda MPV is something that must be appealing to the locals.)
- Honda DIRACC, which used to be called Honda ICVS, only has Honda Civic Hybrids, and uses a proprietary in-vehicle technology (which is not related to Flexcar's system). It primarily serves the downtown area of Singapore from 8 ‘ports’ (pods) totalling 50 vehicles, including a new location at Changi Airport. It is the only service that allows one-way rental between ports. In the most recent, rate changes, Honda lowered the hourly rates after the initial 20 minutes and increased KM charges slightly. They claim 70% utilisation on weekends, 40% at night and 18% during the day. In February 2004 they announced they were planning to expand to other cities in Asia;
- CitySpeed is the low-cost CSO in Singapore and uses SMS (cell phone messaging) to unlock its vehicles. The member simply sends a 6-digit code given to them at reservation time to unlock the vehicle, which occurs within 15 seconds. The call must come from a phone already registered with CitySpeed. At the end of the trip another SMS message locks the vehicle. CitySpeed has 38 stations. All Singapore CSOs charge a US$100 refundable security deposit;
- in Australia, Melbourne and Sydney, pioneers Nic Lowe and Bruce Jeffreys started Newtown Carsharing in 2003 but later changed the name to GoGet and announced the intention to ‘go national’ with the creation of Carsharing Australia. They now have 1 pod in Melbourne and 9 in Sydney. They require a US$500 refundable security deposit.
In Japan, two experimental programs have been created by Honda and Toyota… - in October 1997, Honda unveiled its Intelligent Community Vehicle System (ICVS) in a remote site north of Tokyo. It comprises multiple lots from which four different types of electric-powered vehicles can be selected for use, from an electric bicycle to a Smart-sized electric car; includes smart cards to unlock and start a vehicle, combined with advanced information technologies for reservations and billing; and advanced vehicle monitoring and controls to park and fuel the vehicles and move them in platoons without drivers. The ICVS demonstration has no subscribed or regular users;
- in May 1999, 300 Toyota employees began a one-year experiment of a smart carsharing system called ‘Crayon’. This system employs a suite of advanced electronics, including smart cards; a reservation, location, and recharging management system; automatic vehicle location; a vehicle information and communications system; and a fleet of 35 small electric E-com cars (with plans to increase to 50 cars). Employees, working at Toyota headquarters in central Japan, reserve vehicles and drive them between home and work sites and to the company’s heliport. Eight parking sites will provide charging facilities.
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