It appears as if BMW is launching their own version of Car2Go in Seattle. For those of you who are unaware, Car2Go is a car-sharing company that uses Mercedes Smart cars. The new BMW service, which is named ReachNow, is going to work very similarly.
REACHNOW FROM BMW
At the start, drivers are going to have 370 vehicles to choose from ranging from the BMW 3 Series, i3 electric cars, and Mini Cooper. Peter Schwarzenbauer, a company board member, mentions how within the year this service will expand to three more cities outside of Seattle. He also mentioned how this was just the initial piece of a larger mobility program for the company. As far as the registration goes, the cars are going to be able to be unlocked via its Android and iPhone app. So, with this program, you will be able to hop into a BMW car whenever you want to!
THE PRICE OF REACHNOW FROM BMW
The pricing for this service is going to be very familiar to that of Mercedes Smart and the Car2Go service. For starters, drivers are going to need to pay an initial sing-up fee of $39. After that, for every single minute of driving, 49 cents must be paid. Also, there is a $1 per-ride fee. However, in its initial rush BMW will waive the registration fee and drop the cents per minute cost to 41.
MERCEDES SMART AND THE CAR2GO SERVICE
This is clearly a move by BMW to set themselves up to compete with Mercedes Smart and the Car2Go service. As mentioned, these services are going to work very similarly. However, the communications manager of Car2Go, Dacyl Armendariz, mentioned how they already have over 75,000 registered members in Seattle. She also warned any company about setting up a one-way car sharing service in Seattle. She noted that anyone can benefit from the groundwork that Car2Go has set up, but that there will be a steep learning curve. Basically, it doesn’t sound like she is too concerned about ReachNow.
