Oslo has now started earmarking public parking spaces for car sharing. The first places have already been allocated - to the Bilkollektivet's cars at Damplassen in Ullevål Hageby. The inauguration was marked with breakfast, coffee, cord cutting and more for residents and other interested parties.
Need reserved spaces due to resident parking
When Oslo municipality introduced resident parking in several places in the city, it became more difficult to operate organized car sharing, especially in places where cars were parked on the street. Electric cars and hydrogen cars can be freely parked within the residents' area, but the car fleet of the Bilkollektivet is not yet completely emission-free. Not yet. The City Council has therefore decided to reserve its own parking spaces for this purpose.
It is not certain that everyone is equally happy about losing public parking spaces, - but those I met at Damplassen were positive. Car sharing is definitely here to stay, and is on the rise.
Car when you need it
Director Morten Munch-Olsen of the Bilkollektivet says that members replace their own cars with car sharing. The car collective currently has 80 members in the area who use the allocated parking spaces. Without car sharing, there would have been perhaps 80 more cars in the area. The car collective's slogan, "Car when you need it", refers to one of the most basic needs to be able to replace one's own car. Imagine the following conversation at the breakfast table: "Are we the ones driving to football practice today?". After a few seconds, the car is ordered and ready to be picked up on the way from work. That's how it should work.
Car sharing is more than just car rental
Car sharing is often mentioned together with new services for car rental between private individuals. Renting a car through, for example Neighbor car does not cover basic requirements for car sharing. Few people can replace their own car ownership only with rental cars. It can be a supplement, but does not capture daily situations where you need a car for a couple of hours. When you find it's your turn to drive the neighborhood kids to soccer practice, you need to be able to unlock a car that afternoon—and return it three hours later—without spending unnecessary time searching and making appointments.
Not for everyone
If you live outside Oslo and need a car every day, you must have your own car. Are you to who need a car daily, you may have to have one to cars. That's just how it is. But if you live in an urban area, such as in Ullevål Hageby, you may not need a car every day. With car sharing, you don't have to think about looking for a parking space when you get home. You avoid EU inspection, service, repairs and tire changes. When you need a car, you get into a new, safe and environmentally friendly car. And the most important thing is that you don't have to be left with your beard in the mailbox when the car is to be sold, because you chose the "wrong" technology.
Great car park
The car collective's fleet mainly consists of new cars from Toyota, Peugeot and KIA. City cars, family cars, cabin cars and 7- and 9-seaters. In addition, they have cars that many are still queuing to acquire, such as the Opel Ampera and Jaguar I-Pace. Opel Ampera with ski box takes you to the cabin at Hafjell without charging. The I-Pace will soon be placed out and made available to members. In practice, the Ampera has a winter range of 300 km, while the I-Pace currently appears to be between 220 and 240 km. I spoke to a member of the Bilkollektivet who last weekend drove 240 km round trip to the cabin with the Ampera, and had 50 km to go. The friend, who drove the same distance with the I-Pace, had to charge.
Immediate access to car
If you are considering car sharing, I recommend trying several operators before possibly selling your own car. The most important factors are that there are actually cars where you live and/or work and that you can get a car when du need it, preferably immediately. Unfortunately, there are far too many situations in daily life that require immediate access to a car: The handyman, who was only supposed to arrive at two o'clock, is now standing outside your house waiting - and du is at work. Your "key child" is standing outside the house crying, because she has lost the key and no one is home. The part you ordered at IKEA has arrived. If you pick it up now, you can install the dishwasher already this evening.
Several actors
It is natural to compare Bilkollektivet with Hertz BilPool. According to Munch-Olsen, Bilkollektivet's turnover is approximately 3 times as large as Hertz BilPool's. Bilkollektivet operates as a Norwegian-owned cooperative. Hertz BilPool is not listed as a separate company in the Brønnysund registers. They invoice via Hertz car rental/First Rent a Car Norway AS so that the turnover figures are probably in their accounts. In reality, Hertz BilPool is entirely Swedish. On the owner side is none other than Volvo Personvagnar AB. The Swedish sister company Sunfleet Carsharing AB is behind the technical solutions - and the service phone seems to end up in Sweden.
Other players in car sharing are Hyre AS and ZipCar. Hiring is currently in the start-up phase. They have good IT solutions and rent out cars owned by the Møller Group as well as some private cars. ZipCar is owned by the investment company RAC Group which, among other things, is a franchisee for car rentals in Iceland. They collaborate with OBOS. The combination of housing association and car sharing can be a winning combination as several municipalities are now relaxing the requirements for the number of parking spaces if arrangements are made for car sharing.
This means, among other things, reserved parking spaces.
Facts
Bilkollektivet.no
The car collective on Facebook
The car collective at Damplassen - more photos
See
Car sharing can replace your own car, - or car number two or three, if you want. Many are reluctant to take the step - sell their own car and use a rental car. A threshold is required to feel comfortable in a rental car. It is a matter of habit. The more often you rent, the more familiar you become with the scheme. But one thing is very important: If car sharing is to work in practice, it must be as easy to order a car as it is to buy a ticket on the Ruter app. Then the only difference between car sharing and your own car is that you collect the car from another garage - not your own.
