Starting today, you may notice some new car2go vehicles on the streets of Columbus. And by March 31st, you’ll definitely notice, as the entire fleet will have been replaced with upgraded cars that feature the latest technology that the carsharing service has to offer.

“This new tech allows members to connect immediately through their smartphone and manage the entire process through the app versus a member card,” explained Blaire Kniffin, Communications Manager with car2go. “The new cars essentially look like the current smart model that decided to lift weights.”

In addition to the faster login capabilities, the new cars will feature Bluetooth access to allow users to dock their personal phones for in-car music or hands-free phone calls, seat warmers in all vehicles, a roomier interior with more trunk space, and a more powerful engine under the hood. The fleet upgrade is the first time that the 200 vehicles in Columbus have changed out since launch in 2013, which current serve over 25,000 local members.

“Thousands of Columbus residents have embraced the benefits of carsharing and we’re thrilled our members in Columbus will get to experience the newest car2go technology and smart model,” said Chet Ridenour, General Manager of car2go Columbus. “According to the first ever one-way carsharing study conducted in North America, UC Berkley found that for every car2go on the road, car2go is removing up to 11 vehicles from the roads and preventing up to 14 metric tons of pollution.”

For more information, visit www.car2go.com/NA/en/nextgen/.