Got your eye on your neighbour's new Ford? A
new car-sharing scheme could soon see you
taking it for a spin, as Ford experiments with
allowing car owners to rent out their vehicle in
London and six cities in the USA.
To set up the six-month pilot scheme, Ford's
financial services arm Ford Motor Credit Company
has done deals with car-sharing services
Getaround in the US and easyCar Club in the UK.
The trial sees Ford become the latest major car
manufacturer to experiment with the "sharing
economy". Other manufacturers Daimler, BMW
and Volkswagen have an interest in conventional
car-rental services like car2go, DriveNow and
Greenwheels, and Ford last month announced
GoDrive, a similarly conventional scheme to rent
from a fleet of hire cars. The difference with
today's Ford scheme is that it's peer-to-peer, like
rival RelayRides, putting renters into privately-
owned cars belonging to regular folks rather than
drawing on a fleet of dedicated hire cars. You can
already rent out your home when you're not
using it with AirBnB, why not your car too?Ford's peer-to-peer car hire scheme will be
available in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco,
Portland, Chicago and Washington DC as well as
the UK capital. Prospective renters rent the car
through the Getaround or easyCar Club website
or app. They'll be screened and approved before
they can take a car.
If you're in need of a car, you go online to book a
nearby car, then collect the keys either from the
owner or from a safe. Unlike, say, ZipCar, which is
flexible about where you return the car, you have
to drop the car back to the same location when
you're done.
14,000 drivers will be recruited in the US, with
12,000 customers to be recruited in London. If
you bought your car through Ford Credit and
you're in London you can register now on the
easyCar Club website. If you're interested, you
have until 1 August to sign up. The US scheme
runs through November.
new car-sharing scheme could soon see you
taking it for a spin, as Ford experiments with
allowing car owners to rent out their vehicle in
London and six cities in the USA.
To set up the six-month pilot scheme, Ford's
financial services arm Ford Motor Credit Company
has done deals with car-sharing services
Getaround in the US and easyCar Club in the UK.
The trial sees Ford become the latest major car
manufacturer to experiment with the "sharing
economy". Other manufacturers Daimler, BMW
and Volkswagen have an interest in conventional
car-rental services like car2go, DriveNow and
Greenwheels, and Ford last month announced
GoDrive, a similarly conventional scheme to rent
from a fleet of hire cars. The difference with
today's Ford scheme is that it's peer-to-peer, like
rival RelayRides, putting renters into privately-
owned cars belonging to regular folks rather than
drawing on a fleet of dedicated hire cars. You can
already rent out your home when you're not
using it with AirBnB, why not your car too?Ford's peer-to-peer car hire scheme will be
available in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco,
Portland, Chicago and Washington DC as well as
the UK capital. Prospective renters rent the car
through the Getaround or easyCar Club website
or app. They'll be screened and approved before
they can take a car.
If you're in need of a car, you go online to book a
nearby car, then collect the keys either from the
owner or from a safe. Unlike, say, ZipCar, which is
flexible about where you return the car, you have
to drop the car back to the same location when
you're done.
14,000 drivers will be recruited in the US, with
12,000 customers to be recruited in London. If
you bought your car through Ford Credit and
you're in London you can register now on the
easyCar Club website. If you're interested, you
have until 1 August to sign up. The US scheme
runs through November.
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