Skip to main content

Berg Insight: free floating car sharing served 5.6m members 2017

Free floating car sharing services utilised 40,000 vehicles and served 5.6 million members in 2017, according to a report released by Swedish internet of things firm Berg Insight. The study also forecasted that membership of the service will reach 14.3 million using around 102,000 vehicles by the end of 2022. This service allows members to pick up and drop-off cars anywhere within a designated area where parking is allowed. Users can access available cars without prior booking or be required to schedule
April 20, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Free floating car sharing services utilised 40,000 vehicles and served 5.6 million members in 2017, according to a report released by Swedish internet of things firm 3849 Berg Insight. The study also forecasted that membership of the service will reach 14.3 million using around 102,000 vehicles by the end of 2022.


This service allows members to pick up and drop-off cars anywhere within a designated area where parking is allowed. Users can access available cars without prior booking or be required to schedule a return time.

The operational model presents challenges for carsharing operators such as car fleet rebalancing across operating areas to ensure availability, higher capital investments in car fleets as well as parking management.

Berg Insight also revealed that most carsharing organisations use station-based networks with roundtrip rental which requires users to return a vehicle to the same station where it was accessed.

Martin Svegander internet of things analyst at Berg Insight, said: “Free floating carsharing is now available in about 20 countries and roughly 55 cities worldwide. Europe and North America so far represent the vast majority of free floating carsharing members worldwide. In Europe, free floating services accounted for more than 65 percent of the carsharing membership at year-end 2017."

“Examples of additional markets that have introduced free floating carsharing services include Russia, China, New Zealand and Brazil. Besides free floating carsharing schemes backed by the major carmakers BMW DriveNow and Daimler Car2go, some specialist CarSharing Organisations (CSOs) in Europe and North America have also started to offer this operational model. Examples of CSOs that offer free floating services include Enjoy in Italy, GreenMobility in Denmark and Evo Car Share in Canada. Recently, BMW and Daimler announced the merger of their mobility service businesses that is anticipated to create a leading venture that includes free floating carsharing services and other shared mobility services”, Svegander added.

The report brochure can be downloaded %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external here false http://www.berginsight.com/ReportPDF/ProductSheet/bi-vending3-ps.pdf false false%>.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Baidu tests two driverless cars on China expressway
    June 27, 2018
    Chinese artificial intelligence company Baidu has tested two self-driving cars for the first time along a 33km section of an unused expressway in Tianjin City. A news report says that the trial helped developers collect data on the cars’ performance and their ability to sense the road environment. The test site is part of the Tangshan-Langfang expressway, which is scheduled to open in the Hebei province later this year.
  • Zendrive: lunchtime driving in San Francisco riskier than rush hour
    January 23, 2018
    Lunch-hour driving across the San Francisco Bay Area between 11.00am and 2.00pm is riskier than morning and evening rush hour commutes with more than 50% of routes presenting a greater risk to drivers during lunch hour. These latest findings come from Zendrive’s Bay Area Commute Safety Snapshot which also revealed that the San Mateo Bridge is overall more dangerous during morning commutes between 6.00am to 11.00am.
  • Truvelo launches Eyewitness violation recorder
    March 20, 2018
    Truvelo is launching its new Eyewitness moving violation recorder (MVR) which combines class-leading automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) capabilities with high-definition (HD) video to address a series of driving and criminal offences. Designed to be used from a moving vehicle by police and law-enforcement agencies, Eyewitness is a significant extension of Truvelo’s current, static ANPR solution, which uses a camera provided by a partner company.
  • Entries open for the RAC Future Car Challenge 2012
    August 1, 2012
    Entries for the third annual RAC Future Car Challenge, which takes place on Saturday 3 November, are now being invited and for this year there are even more opportunities for manufacturers to get involved with the Challenge and events linked to it, such as the Regent Street Motor Show. The event, which is owned by the Royal Automobile Club, and sponsored by RAC Motoring Services, was first introduced in 2010 to showcase low energy use vehicles. It features competitors driving electric, hybrid, hydrogen and