I’ve been a ZipCar member for 8 years, beginning in Boston in the pre-smartphone era in which I would (gasp!) call in to find available cars. I’ve used Zipcars in Seattle, Washington DC, Vancouver BC, Boston, and Pasadena, even sleeping overnight in one (a long story involving a Delta Airlines fail and fully booked hotels near National Airport). ZipCar allowed me not to own a car from 2005-2012, and has provided me with a level of urban mobility of which I couldn’t have otherwise dreamed. When I lived in the U.K., ZipCar was only available in London, so I used WhizzGo instead for my trips to places outside the rail network (such as Malham Cove).

Enter Car2Go. It made quite the splash on the Seattle carsharing scene in December, going from obscurity to near ubiquity in a matter of weeks (see our posts here and here). Alongside Zipcar (née Flexcar), carsharing is now big business in Seattle. After 8 weeks of using Car2Go, I thought I’d write this post both as a comparative analysis of Zipcar and Car2Go and as a chance to give readers the chance to comment on the new carsharing landscape.

Much more after the jump…

Pricing

Car2Go has a much more aggressive rate structure than Zipcar, but its per-minute pricing (38¢/min) gives it a small window (trips of less than 25 minutes) in which it is considerably cheaper than Zipcar. Zipcar’s 1-hour minimum and round-trip requirement punish short trips, but Zipcar’s 30-minute increment pricing and flatter rate structure optimize it for trips of 1.5-6 hours. My own experience backs this up, my average Zipcar rental (2 hours) being 10 times longer than my average Car2Go rental (12 minutes). Zipcar’s round-trip requirement, however, can act as a de facto time penalty that can skew the financial calculation in Car2Go’s favor for longer than the 25-minute window.

Availability and Parking

ZipCar and Car2Go have radically different but exceptionally complementary approaches to fleet management.

ZipCar’s guaranteed, reserved parking and round-trip requirement ensures reliable car availability and the ability to make reservations months in advance. Car2Go, by contrast, depends upon a natural equilibrium that provides free (but not guaranteed) parking at any legal street space that is timed for more than 2 hours and lacks peak-hour restrictions).

The limitations and benefits of each approach are clear. If you know in advance when you need a car, Zipcar is usually better. If you need a car for a one-way trip right now, Car2Go is unmatched.

With Car2Go this liberating spontaneity is paired with increased risk; the incentive to take one-way trips means there is no guarantee that a car will be available when you need one. In my experience thus far, Car2Go’s fleet exhibits suprisingly traditional peak flows during the day, toward the CBD in the daytime and out toward urban villages at night. Recently at 10:45pm on a weeknight, I wanted to drive from Pioneer Square to Wallingford but no cars were available between Jackson and Battery west of I-5.

Car2Go complements a transit-first lifestyle in ways ZipCar doesn’t. I can commute from the C.D. to downtown by transit, take a peak-hour bus to Ballard for dinner, then take Car2Go home, saving 30 minutes compared to a 2-seat bus ride. I can choose in real-time what is best for each situation.

Car2Go’s lack of presence in South and West Seattle has been a prominent criticism, and one that I hope market demand will rectify. At a minimum we need Mt Baker Station within the home area, and in my opinion ideally as far south as Othello.

Vehicle Performance

There is no question that Zipcar has a more attractive, versatile fleet. The driving experience in a Mazda 3 or an Audi A3 is light years ahead of the Smart ForTwo, with its uneven acceleration and temperamental transmission. Zipcar has trucks and vans for hauling, SUVs for ski trips or hikes with large groups, and Subarus with bike and ski racks. If you’re going to leave the Seattle city limits for any reason, Zipcar is usually a better choice.

Customer Service

I’ve found customer service at both Zipcar and Car2Go to be exceptional. Car2Go refunded a $113 mistake I made last week by erroneously thinking my reservation had successfully ended (passenger door wasn’t closed all the way). They erased an hour of drive time plus a $100 Unsecured Vehicle Fee but with a stern warning to ensure it didn’t happen again. With Zipcar I’ve never had a bad customer service experience, from dead battery replacements to compensating me with free drive time when other drivers had been late returning vehicles I had reserved.

User Interface

Zipcar’s website is generally superior to Car2Go’s. Car2Go often doesn’t recognize the proper cookies, and frequently has defaulted me to the Austin, TX home area. The signup process with Car2Go was buggy and poorly adapted for the U.S. market, asking me for my passport number and my province of residence.

As far as mobile apps, Zipcar wins here too. Zipcar has a single, simple, free app that does everything you need it to. Car2Go has multiple apps, some free and some paid, with varying levels of functionality being unlocked as you buy the nicer apps. The free Car2Go app works well for most purposes, however.

Anecdotal reports from STB readers on Twitter have shown that users have had other Beta-esque software issues, such as being unable to suspend their time while trying to refuel. These types of problems will likely resolve with subsequent updates.

And yes, the radio presets leave much to be desired (Country music plays every time you start the car), but Car2Go recently polled their Facebook users to fix this.

Insurance

Along with VeloBusDriver, I’ve long been concerned with the financial exposure of carsharing. As carsharing enables members to live without a personal vehicle, many members carry no separate vehicle insurance. Both Zipcar and Car2Go provide the legal minimum in liability insurance (up to $300K per incident), but $300K can go pretty quickly if multiple vehicles, public infrastructure, or human injuries are involved.

Policies also vary widely regarding vehicle damage fees. Zipcar’s basic deductible is $750 per incident, while Car2Go’s is $1000. Zipcar offers cheap waivers ($9/mo waives the deductible) that every frequent user should purchase, but Car2Go offers no such protection. Car2Go has told me that they may offer waivers in the future but currently have no plans to do so.

Hidden Fees

Both Zipcar and Car2Go have extensive fees for improper use, fees for which I’m grateful because they minimize tragedy-of-the-commons incentives not to take care of the vehicles. Nevertheless, users should educate themselves thoroughly to avoid unpleasant surprises. Zipcar’s fees are considerably less punitive than Car2Go’s, but both are high.



There is also a major difference in how tolling is handled. Zipcar bills you the actual (Good to Go!) toll amount, whereas Car2Go charges the Pay By Mail rate plus a $5 fee.

Summary: