Car2Go: Rental transportation transformed

By Jonathan Mellberg

photos by the author

Let me preface this blog by admitting I may not be the best man to report on this venture. Firstly, I’m a car guy; by that I mean I believe in owning a car at all times, and seeing myself without one is very difficult to imagine. Plus, I’ve never ridden a bus that wasn’t owned by a school district other than one or two Greyhound trips. And my taxi cab experiences number less than one dozen. So, I’m not all that used to public and/or alternative transportation. I’m not a downtown dweller; never have been and never will be. But I do understand a need for myriad ways fellows can get around, which is why I’ve decided to try Car2Go.

my silly friend Brandon, riding shotgun in the Smart car

Car2Go is the slick new wave of micro, rental transportation. In the MN metro area alone there are over five-hundred little Smart car rentals out there at nearly twenty different depots for pick-up and drop-off. All cars are clad in white paint with the same sash of metallic blue running across their sides with “Car2Go” scripted on it. What started in the German city of Ulm has now spread to sixteen cities in both Europe and North America, and I dare say the Minneapolis/St. Paul area is luckier for it.

I’d like to clear any possible confusion at this moment. Car2Go is the rental service, and has nary a thing to do with Smart, the micro-car company whose ForTwo (that’s what the model is called) is the only vehicle that Car2Go uses in its fleets. The Smart ForTwo uses a puny 1.0Litre inline engine utilizing only three cylinders. Output is a giggle-prompting 70 horsepower; torque is just behind that number at 68lb-ft. The ForTwo weighs just over 1800lbs without a driver. Wow. As a reference point, a Mini Cooper Hardtop weighs 2600lbs, a Cadillac CTS weighs 3600lbs, and the smallest, shortest Ford Super Duty pickup truck weighs nearly 6000lbs. Visiting Smart’s website (smartusa.com) doesn’t seem to clarify model names. The ForTwo apparently has four trim levels: Pure Coupe, Pure Passion, Pure Cabriolet (convertible), and Electric Drive. All are two-door models with only two seats. Car2Go assumedly uses Pure coupes and Electric Drive coupes in their fleets. 

the Car2Go Smart ForTwo outside of Cain's Chicken, St. Paul (MN)

Signing up as a member of Car2Go is streamlined enough. Their website is simple and easy to navigate. Normal signup fees are $35, but after contacting Car2Go via email I was gifted a promotional code that erased my $35 signup fee and gave me thirty minutes of free drive time. I suggest you inquire as I did when joining. The signup process involves surrendering some of your basic credentials: Name, address, phone number, driver’s license number, and credit card info. Your credit card is stored on file and is used to bill you whenever you use the service (my account was charged a few days after my usage of Car2Go’s service). Car2Go will check your driving record, hence the need to provide your driver’s license. I assume if yours is not up to snuff they could deny your application. As mine was not blocked, I have no way of knowing for sure. After being approved (and notified via email) I was mailed my nifty, blue Car2Go member card. This is an important piece to the puzzle as the card is one’s gateway every time you climb into a Car2Go Smart car.

How it works is this: Car2Go features several parking stations for their Smart cars throughout the MN metro area (see Car2Go’s website for stations in your area and/or state, where available). At any time you may view how many Smart car rentals are available. You may reserve cars in advance, too. Should you choose to rent a car, simply approach the Smart car and ready your member card. At the base of the driver’s side windshield there lies a card scanner underneath the glass. Hold your card up to the device. It will read your card, and, after a moment, electronically unlock the doors; you will then enter the vehicle. At this point the ignition key is firmly and safely locked in its port, near the radio on the dash board. There is a touch screen that will prompt you to enter your four-digit PIN number, which will release the key. The same touch screen will then ask you to survey the car for any damage, inside or out, and report it appropriately with simplistic emoticons: Smiley face (for no damage) and frowny face (for some damage). Once these steps have been completed you’ll be ready to drive. The key fits into the ignition slot, nestled on the floor between the driver and passenger seat.

What about the costs? $.38 per mile, $13.99 per hour, $72.99 per day, and $.45 per mile after 150 miles (per use). For my test drive I took my best pal Brandon out to lunch at Cains Chicken near the Minnesota Gophers TCF stadium. Our drive lasted roughly 90 minutes before we turned in the car. With my free 30 minutes of usage, the total bill came to $17.06 for the remaining time. Not bad, especially considering the following: We didn’t pay for gas, and didn’t get charged for not re-fueling the vehicle. We didn’t fill out any paperwork at the time of the rental. And if we had been low on gas, Car2Go features a prepaid gas card in each vehicle; they encourage you to re-fill the car if empty, on them! How cool is that? Fuel charges are built into the pricing, as is insurance and any other little monetary annoyance that usually accompanies renting cars. When we were good and ready, we parked the little Smart car in the designated Car2Go depot (which just happened to be not 100 feet from our work office), locked the key back in place, shut the doors, and swiped the Member card in front of the reader once more, thereby finalizing our exchange. Once this is complete the Car2Go website will update, showing this vehicle is free again for renting, at this particular depot. Pretty slick.

one of Car2Go's several parking depots

About Car2Go’s choice of vehicles; Smart car is really an ironic moniker. This is not a vehicle an intelligent person would buy. While I set out to experience and review Car2Go as it was intended (as a rental), I must (inescapably) spend a few sentences thoroughly trashing the car itself. While the Smart car has a plus or two, it is otherwise riddled with minuses. The car will ride down the road nicely; that is until it rolls over any crack, divot, or any other road imperfection, whereupon the Smart will buck and kick like a green-broke philly. This of course is due to a wheelbase shorter than any other car on earth (probably). Acceleration is laughable, until you really need it, then it’s scarily absent. The little car tries hard but not hard enough; the automatic transmission shifts way too soon and much too slowly. It feels as if the car is being shifted manually by a driver’s ed student, automatically. The brake pedal hinge is infuriatingly misplaced; depressing the pedal is the easiest way for the pedal to slip out from under your foot. One wonders if the engineers actually drove this thing before releasing it upon humanity.

the EcoScore app encourages efficient (aka boring) driving

surprisingly spacious for two large adults

Naturally I’m being a bit hard on this mini-me auto. For its intended use and function, the Smart car fits the Car2Go business model quite nicely. The car is easy to handle, easy to see out of, easy to drive. Yes, one must acclimate themselves to its eccentricities (and preferably before joining the masses on heavily trafficked roads), but there are just enough positive attributes to make the whole Car2Go experience work. For one, there is plenty of room for two big adults (as Brandon and I proved). There is technically a trunk, but it’s only good for a couple slim, rolling suitcases or stacked duffel bags. The radio/navigation/apps screen is quick to be mastered, mainly because of its rudimentary layout and minimal options/functions. You can’t even adjust the audio controls (such as bass, treble, and balance). There is a nifty app called EcoScore that lets you observe how frugal you’re being with the acceleration. The navigation screen pictures a cute little animated forest, with three trees. The better you drive (a combination of acceleration, steadiness, and coasting), the more the squirrels, birds and bunny rabbits come out to play in these healthily growing trees. Frankly, it’s kinda dumb, yet somehow addicting to watch. Just what one needs while driving…

All in all Brandon and I had a very enjoyable experience. Sure, neither of us would ever consider a Smart car as a practical, everyday means of transportation. But for what it is, especially with Car2Go, I can’t think of a better vehicle for their purpose (and yet I can’t help but wonder why Ford or Chevy weren’t tapped for their entry-level autos). It is by far the easiest rental experience ever. No more dealing with rental agencies, hoping your reserved car is still waiting for you, worrying about purchasing extra insurance, or fretting over how much gas was in the car you rented or how much needs to go back in. Car2Go has fast-tracked the entire process, offering a very modern, technologically influenced way of getting from here to there. Do I see myself using Car2Go again? It won’t be often; my wife and I each have our own vehicles. But if mine ever needed to visit an auto dealer for repairs, I won’t be opposed to walking right up to another Car2Go Smart Car and swiping one for the hour, day, or maybe even week. I highly recommend anyone try it for themselves.

-Thanks for reading The Wheelspin Journal-

photo by the author