City CarShare Fleet Now 50% Battery-Based Vehicles
City CarShare, the largest nonprofit carsharing organization in North America, has reported that more than 50 percent of its fleet is comprised of electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles – a goal that it met more than one year ahead of schedule.
According to the entity, this makes City CarShare the greenest carshare organization among those offering a variety of vehicle models to its members.
“Today is a landmark day for our organization,” said Rick Hutchinson, City CarShare CEO. “In 2011, we announced our core goal to convert half of our fleet to all-electric, plug-in hybrid or hybrid vehicles by 2015. I’m pleased to say that we’ve met that goal far ahead of schedule.”
Combining its own capital with support grants from the Federal Highway Administration, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, City CarShare’s fleet now contains 54% battery-based vehicles. By year end, an additional 15 PEVs (plug-in electric vehicles) will be added to the fleet through an innovative partnership with Toyota, called Dash EV. This program is currently offered at Hacienda in Pleasanton and will expand to other locations in 2014.
City CarShare also reported that its fleet averages just under 50 miles per gallon, based on EPA standards and that it is on pace to reduce C02 emissions in the Bay Area by 90 million pounds per year in 2013.
City CarShare provides easy access and convenience to its shared vehicles with more than 220 locations in nine Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Daly City, El Cerrito, Fremont and Pleasanton. The fleet includes the all-electric Ford Focus, Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMiEV, and Scion iQ; the Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Volt, and Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrids; and the Toyota Camry, Ford C-Max, and Toyota Prius hybrids. The electric vehicle fleet includes installing charging stations for members and additional stations for public use.
About City CarShare
City CarShare is a Bay Area nonprofit that provides convenient, affordable access to shared cars in order to reduce individual car ownership and usage. City CarShare’s goals are to remove 20,000 cars from the road by 2020; convert half of the fleet to all-electric, hybrid or plug-in hybrid by 2015; and save the Bay Area $1 billion over the costs of owning a car by 2020. With a mission to improve the environment and quality of life in our cities, City CarShare makes its service convenient, reliable and affordable so that people will prefer using City CarShare to owning their own. In doing so, City CarShare members are reducing traffic, parking problems, and dependence on oil–while promoting cleaner air, quieter streets, and more open space. City CarShare saves its members an average of $8,400 a year over the costs of car ownership and upkeep.
More information at www.citycarshare.org.
Category: General Update, Vehicles
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