With the convenience of ride-sharing companies and apps, like Uber, Lyft and car2go, more and more people are forgoing owning their own car in urban centres. The City of Vancouver is already the car-sharing capital of North America and ride/car-sharing are only expected to become more popular over the next few decades. As EVs become more efficient and inexpensive and charging stations become more abundant, it is likely that more of these ride-sharing cars will be powered by electricity. Recently, car2Go added 20 electric cars to its fleet, called next-gen car2go, as part of a pilot project in Montreal, QC. This project will test whether EVs are feasible for the company and Montreal, and what the next steps will be to support greater adoption of EVs.  

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The ride-sharing company, Lyft, has also been testing out a “Green Mode” pilot project in Seattle, WA where customers can request to have an electric or hybrid vehicle pick them up through the app. There are also options to rent electric cars for longer periods of time through Lyft’s Express Drive program which includes free charging. Depending on the success of these pilot projects, EVs and the “Green Mode” could spread to other cities throughout North America. Programs like these can help reduce emissions and save customers money since they do not have to maintain or fuel their own vehicles.

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References:

• Liam Britten, Vancouver is ‘car-sharing capital of Norther America,’ report says, 2018, CBC News. At https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-car-share-car2go-evo-1.4504926

• Car2go, Introducing the next-gen smart car, 2019. At https://www.car2go.com/NA/en/nextgen/

• Alan Ohnsman, Lyft trying a ‘Green Mode’ to get more of its riders into electric cars, 2019, Forbes. At https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2019/02/06/lyft-has-a-green-mode-plan-to-get-more-of-its-riders-into-electric-cars/#58657c2930f4