From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Peer-to-peer car rental
Peer-to-peer car rental
Peer-to-peer car rental (also known as person-to-person ance policy covers any kind of accident during the rental
sharing)
car rental and peer-to-peer car sharing is the process period regardless of the car owner’s own insurance.
whereby an existing car owner makes their vehicle avail- RentMyCar – Based in Konstanz as well as New York,
able for others to rent for short periods of time. their peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace was the
Peer-to-peer car rental is a form of person-to-person world’s first.[3][4][5] The service launched in May 2001.
lending or collaborative consumption. The business mod- The company offered free listings of personally owned
el is closely aligned to traditional car clubs such as Street- car rentals on a marketplace type platform that allows
car or Zipcar, but replaces a typical fleet with a ‘virtual’ car owners and potential renters to interact with each
fleet made up of vehicles from participating owners. other and to negotiate their own rental rates and terms.
With peer-to-peer car rental, participating car owners The company provided a Virtual Vehicle Inspection
are able to make money by renting out their vehicle Sticker (VVIS), a master keycard and personal car shar-
when they are not using it. Participating renters can ac- ing search engine, and a business method using neigh-
cess nearby and affordable vehicles and pay only for the borhood managers. About 800 vehicles were offered for
time they need to use them. rental in its first two years.[6]
Businesses within this sector typically apply some rent’n’roll - Based in Hamburg, this company offers
form of screening of participants (both owners and p2p-carsharing throughout Germany. It’s possible for
renters) and a technical solution, usually in the form of users to rent cars via an iPhone app.[7] Rent’n’roll runs a
a website, that brings these parties together, manages scientific project in Geislingen with the University of Ap-
rental bookings and collects payment. Increasingly, an plied Sciences in Geislingen-Nürtingen to examine pri-
automated form of insurance and breakdown coverage vate carsharing in an area that is no centre of popula-
will be applied to rentals that take place through the ser- tion.[8]
vice in order to protect an owner’s existing insurance
coverage. Netherlands
As with person-to-person lending, enabling technol- In the Netherlands several parties are entering the mar-
ogy for this behavior has been the Internet and the adop- ket in 2011. All encountered barriers in the form of his-
tion of geo-location-based service. torical insurance models, particularly excluding peer to
peer car rental. The most cited reason is that the per-
Examples ceived risks are hard to estimate. Competition in this
small country, inhabiting roughly 17 million people,
Australia seems to become very strong as soon as multiple players
are active. Nonetheless some parties seem to have
Drive My Car Rentals – Launched in December 2008, cracked the insurance box and believe they can win over
DriveMyCar was the first operator to successfully com- the market.
mercialise the peer to peer car rental concept. Car own-
ers pay a $25 AUS[1] ($15 US) annual fee to list their ve- France
hicle. Drivers can search and book these vehicles online,
with the site arranging the rental agreement, insurance Livop.fr – Started in September 2010, this is the first P2P
and payments. In 2010 the service introduced a hybrid carsharing in France with no key exchange.
insurance product that automatically covers an owner’s DEways – Offers free membership and secured, pre-
vehicle when rented, costing drivers $10 per day. In late payed payments.
2010, the company expanded its service from short term Buzzcar – Founded in April 2011 by Robin Chase, co-
car rental to include short term car leasing (1-12 mths) founder of Zipcar. Users find and reserve vehicles using
and also entered the insurance replacement vehicle mar- the iPhone app or a computer. Buzzcar requires a key
ket. The company intends to expand its service into exchange, whether in person or at a pre-arranged drop
Europe and the U.S. in 2011. spot.
Voiturelib - Started in June 2010, offers comprehen-
Germany sive insurance cover, secure payments, and social net-
working features. Voiturelib requires owner and renter
Autonetzer – Based in Stuttgart, the company started to to meet in person to exchange keys and sign the down-
test p2p-Carsharing in fall 2010.[2] Since May 2011 the loaded contract.
service is offered throughout Germany. An add-on insur-
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Peer-to-peer car rental
United Kingdom Canada
WhipCar – The world’s largest peer-to-peer car Communauto – Communauto pioneered carsharing in
club.[9][10] They offer a bespoke, fully integrated insur- North America, and is in the process of launching their
ance product, 24/7 customer support, break down cover P2P program.
on all bookings made and automated screening of all dri-
vers and car owners who join the service. Whipcar differ Sweden
from a conventional car club in that there are no mem- FlexiDrive - Launched in July 2011.
bership fees and owners and drivers meet and hand over
the keys directly. WhipCar raised venture capital funding Spain
from Delta Partners in October 2009. The service has over
Social Car - Launched in July 2011, the first peer to peer
40 makes of car available to rent at any time and is pre-
car rental service in Spain.
sent in over 450 towns and cities across the UK. Within
six months of launch, WhipCar had over 1,000 cars avail-
able to rent.[11][12] Timeline
• May 2001 – RentMyCar launches the first peer to
USA peer car sharing marketplace.
RelayRides – RelayRides launched an initial pilot in Bos- • Oct 2008 – Drive My Car Rentals – launches peer to
ton in June 2010.[10] Their headquarters were relocated peer car rental service in Australia
from Boston to San Francisco in early 2011, although they • April 2010 – Whipcar launches peer-to-peer car
continue to operate in the Cambridge area. They are the rental service in London, UK.
first company to attempt to integrate the existing black • May 2010 – Drive My Car Rentals – website and
box technology from car clubs into private car owner ve- service redesign – introduction of hybrid insurance
hicles, with a business model closely aligned to that of car policy product that works in conjunction with the
clubs.[13] RelayRides offers a single insurance policy to owners existing car insurance.
cover their drivers during rentals and claim to allow car • June 2010 – RelayRides launches Beta product in
owners to earn up to $8,000 a year by renting out their Boston
cars.[14][15][16] • November 2010 – tamyca launches all over Germany
Getaround – Based in San Francisco.[17] Getaround us- • December 2010 – Getaround launches Beta product
es web interface, smart phone and social graph technol- in San Francisco
ogy to facilitate person-to-person car rental. They offer • Early 2011 – Sprideshare set to launch in San
a product called "The Getaround Carkit", which enables Francisco
keyless entry to a converted vehicle through the ability • Early 2011 – JustShareIt set to launch in California
of a driver or renter to unlock a vehicle through their • June 2011 - rent’n’roll launches all over Germany
smartphone. Getaround launched in May 2011, and won • July 2011 - Social Car launches peer to peer car rental
the TechCrunch "Disrupt NYC" award.[18] Currently they all over Spain
list cars in the San Francisco Bay area and San Diego.
Sprideshare – Based in San Francisco. Sprideshare is
set to a launch a pilot scheme in collaboration with City See also
Car Share in late 2011.[19] Their model is akin to Re- • Car sharing
layRides, requiring vehicles to be fitted with technology • Car pooling
which enables them to be remotely unlocked. They have • Collaborative consumption
faced a major insurance barrier, rooted in California in- • Person-to-person lending
surance law, but worked with California State Assembly • Shared transport
member Dave Jones to create Assembly Bill 1871, which • Sustainable transportation
has changed insurance law to permit remuneration for
personal vehicle sharing.[citation needed]
Go-op – Pittsburgh based start-up which is develop-
References
ing an online system for vehicle sharing that is environ- [1] "Car Travel Services". Australian Explorer.
mentally friendly and provides revenue to car owners.[20] http://www.australianexplorer.com/
Jolly Wheels – Originated in New York City in De- car_travel_services.html. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
cember 2005 and introduced the peer-to-peer rental con- [2] http://autonetzer.tumblr.com/post/8309122166/
cept in 2009, with over 80 locations across the United autonetzer-de-geht-online
States.[21] [3] http://web.archive.org/web/*/
http://rentmycar.com
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Peer-to-peer car rental
[4] http://web.archive.org/web/*/ [15] "Person-to-person car rental service". Springwise.
http://rentmycar.de http://springwise.com/transportation/
[5] http://web.archive.org/web/20011011164201/ relayrides/. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
www.rentmycar.de/sangebot.afp [16] Ken Belson (2010-09-10). "Baby, You Can Rent My
[6] http://www.presseportal.ch/de/pm/100004626/ Car". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/
100464165/rentmycar_gmbh_co_kg 2010/09/12/automobiles/
[7] http://rent-n-roll.tumblr.com/ 12RELAY.html?_r=1&ref=automobiles. Retrieved
[8] http://www.swp.de/goeppingen/lokales/ 2010-09-10.
mittleres_filstal/Wer-vermietet-sein- [17] "5 Tips to Winning a Hack-a-thon Competition".
Auto;art5777,1215032 2009-08-07. http://singularityu.org/bloggers/
[9] Williams, David (2010-04-21). "New car share 2009/08/5-tips-to-winning-a-hack-a-thon-
scheme puts you at the wheel of your neighbours competition/. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
car". London: The Daily Telegraph. [18] http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/25/and-the-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/ winner-of-techcrunch-disrupt-nyc-is-getaround/
7611549/New-car-share-scheme-puts-you-at-the- [19] Motavalli, Jim (2010-05-03). "In San Francisco, Car
wheel-of-your-neighbours-car.html. Retrieved Sharing Means Really Sharing - Wheels Blog -
2010-09-03. NYTimes.com". Wheels.blogs.nytimes.com.
[10] ^ "Keeping up with the Joneses". The Economist. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/in-
2010-04-22. http://www.economist.com/node/ san-francisco-car-sharing-means-really-sharing/.
15954416?story_id=15954416/. Retrieved Retrieved 2010-08-01.
2010-04-22. [20] "With hiring scarce, Pittsburgh’s MBA grads look to
[11] "Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing Start-Up WhipCar Is create their own jobs - Pittsburgh Business Times".
Zooming Down ZipCar’s Lane". Fast Company. Pittsburgh.bizjournals.com. 2010-04-30.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1686054/whipcar- http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/
the-peer-to-peer-car-share-start-up-in-london. stories/2010/05/03/
Retrieved 2010-08-31. story9.html?b=1272859200^3275961. Retrieved
[12] "WhipCar: New Service Allows You To Rent Out 2010-08-01.
Your Own Car". Huffington Post. [21] Running a Rental Business Without Owning a Fleet.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/24/ Auto Rental News, Nov./Dec. 2010.
whipcar-rent-your-car_n_692415.html. Retrieved
[13]
2010-08-24.
Kirsner, Scott (2010-04-19). "RelayRides wants to
External links
rent out your car". The Boston Globe. • Carpool / Rideshare savings calculator
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/ • Would you loan your neighbor the keys to your car?
articles/2010/04/19/ - The Independent (UK)
relayrides_wants_to_rent_out_your_car/.
[14]
Retrieved 2010-04-19.
"How it Works". RelayRides.
Categories
http://www.relayrides.com/how_owner.html.
Retrieved 2010-09-02.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peer-to-peer_car_rental&oldid=466369710"
Categories:
• Car sharing
• Road transport
• Sustainable transport
This page was last modified on 17 December 2011 at 18:16. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
3