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

  • iMobility Challenge event
    November 12, 2014
    The next iMobility Challenge event, "Intelligent Mobility, Smart Cities" takes place in Brussels on 18 November 2014. Experts from innovation companies and researchers will share the latest ideas and developments in the field of intelligent mobility, sharing insights into how we will move forward in cities tomorrow, and what future vehicles will look like. Confirmed keynote speakers include John Baekelsmans, CTO at Cisco; other key speakers will be Rupert Fausset, Principal Sustainability Advisor at F
  • Crédit Agricole pushes payment platform at CARTES 2013
    November 19, 2013
    First-time CARTES exhibitor Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments is focusing on a strategic realignment, which opened its payment processing platform to non-subsidiary companies. The aim of the move, says the company’s Hervé Gachen, was to maximise payment volumes and so minimise costs for both subsidiary companies and other users.
  • 2019 ‘won’t be the year of blockchain’, says Fujitsu
    February 6, 2019
    Blockchain technology will not break through into the mainstream of the British transportation sector during 2019, according to Fujitsu. Blockchain has been touted as the solution to a number of transportation issues, but Chris Patton from Fujitsu’s EMEIA transport team urges caution. While acknowledging that the technology holds ‘exciting’ operational and commercial potential for the public transport sector, he says: “The key word there, though, is potential. While it is undeniable blockchain will ma
  • Lyft app gets bike lanes to encourage safer cycling
    September 26, 2019
    Lyft is adding protected bike lanes and bike-friendly routes to its app to encourage more people to use two-wheeled transportation. The Verge reports that the protected bike lanes will appear as dark green lines in the app while bike-friendly routes that are less protected will be represented as dotted green lines. The feature is available for Lyft bikes and scooter-sharing services on iOS devices, with Android to follow soon. Lyft’s head of micromobility policy, Caroline Samponaro, says: “Each ride