Surprise: Italy is a car sharing country. And it is the second in Europe, with about one million subscribers, a 30% annual growth rate, and a presence of almost 5 thousand vehicles considering only the two main operators, the very Italian Enjoy, born from a partnership between Fiat and Eni, e Car2go, powered by the German group Daimler. Between now and 2025, according to a study by Frost & Sullivan, car sharing will invoice 767 million dollars in Italy, a figure lower only than that estimated for Germany.
A paradox, if you think that Italy is also the second country in Europe (behind only Luxembourg) for cars per thousand inhabitants: in 2015, according to Aci data, there were as many as 615, in continuous growth since the threshold of 2008 private cars for every thousand citizens was exceeded in 600. In 2012, however, coincidentally before the car sharing boom, it had reached 621.
2016 and in particular the last few months have brought, in addition to the consolidation of a phenomenon that started in Milan and which still makes the Lombard capital its main laboratory, to various innovations on various fronts: first of all, the electric car service by has landed in the capital Share'ngo, already present in Milan and Florence, and also in Rome, in June, Enjoy launched the scooter sharing with Piaggio's three-wheeled motorcycles already tested – once again – in Milan.
Car2go is instead starting to renew its fleet with 800 new vehicles in the Lombard capital, where for the first time we begin to see around – this is the real novelty – the models smartforfour, or the 4-seater Smart. For now, 50 are on the road, in Milan alone, while the smartfortwo cars have also arrived in Turin, i.e. the new two-seater Smart models, as we know them. Not only that: the car sharing multinational, the only one present in 30 cities, 9 countries and three continents (it also landed in China in April), has also revised its tariff plan. Finally, another private operator is ready to land on this ever more flourishing market: on 19 October the BMW-branded DriveNow car sharing will make its debut on the streets of Milan. For now, there are 480 cars: six BMW and Mini Cooper models, awaiting the launch of a first electric fleet (with 20 BMW i3s by the end of 2016).
In addition to the various public operators present from North to South, BMW thus joins the patrol of large private operators currently present in Milan, Turin, Florence, Rome and Catania. In addition to the aforementioned Enjoy (which uses the Fiat 500 for car sharing and Mp3 Piaggio for scooter sharing), Car2go and Share'ngo (which uses the electric vehicles of Xin Da Yang Electric Vehicles, a subsidiary of the Geely group, owner of Volvo) , there are for example Mercedes and Intesa Sanpaolo with electric scooter sharing by 2 hire sharing, or again Ald Automotive than through the startup Zigzag, launched in July, placed 200 Tricity Yamaha 125s in Rome in September.
ENJOY – A phenomenon that appeals to the big names in the automotive industry but above all that citizens like and is used more and more. “In Milan – reveals Enjoy – each vehicle is used by 10 different users every day. In Rome there are 6, but the service is growing and scooter sharing arrived in June: we'll see how it goes, in Milan they liked the three-wheeler formula, it gave security even if initially the vehicle seemed less manageable”. To date, over half a million Italians have downloaded the Enjoy app, whose registration is free: the data speak of 8,7 million rentals so far, with 15.000 people using the service every day in the cities covered which are Milan, Turin, Florence, Rome and Catania.
The rates for the Eni-branded service are, for the machines: 0,25 cents per minute, 50 euros for 24 consecutive hours of rental (the maximum number of km for each rental is 50), booking up to 90 minutes in advance, with the first 15 free and then a cost of 0,10 cents per minute. Scooters cost 35 cents per minute, and 24-hour rental costs 60 euros. There are a couple of innovations expected by 2016: the first on refueling, which is currently guaranteed by the fleet team that operates 24 hours a day, the second on possible extensions of the covered areas. In fact, especially in Rome, the service does not cover some areas that are not even too peripheral: "The coverage areas are always under observation and changes can be considered if they improve the business and the community", ensure from Enjoy.
CAR2GO – The other large private operator is Car2go, world market leader with 2 million customers worldwide (which have a total of 14 vehicles available), 1,1 million in Europe and 300 in Italy between Milan, Turin, Florence and Rome, where a total of more than 30 million kilometers have been covered. “Since its inception in 2008 – explain the Italian press office – more than 71 million rentals have been made worldwide and more than 515 million kilometers have been traveled with Car2go vehicles. A worldwide Car1,5go rental starts every 2 seconds”.
The city with the most vehicles in Italy is Milan (750 smartfortwo + 50 smartforfour), where, however, there are still no electric vehicles already tested in Madrid, Amsterdam and Stuttgart with a fleet of 1.310 cars: this could be the new Italian challenge of a group that in April launched the service in the first Asian city, the Chinese Chongqing, a metropolis of 30 million inhabitants.
The already certain novelty is that of the tariffs: first of all the registration, which compared to Enjoy is paid but from now on only 9 euros one-off. Then renting a two-seater Car2go costs now 0,24 cents per minute, 13.90 euros per hour and 59 euros for 24 hours including 200 km of rental. The 2-seater Car4go costs 0,26 cents and a new booking time has been set for both: 20 minutes in advance.
SHARE'NGO – At the moment it is the third operator, the one known for electric vehicles and for the free nightly rate for women. Registration costs 10 euros and includes the first 30 minutes of free driving and the Share'ngo Card (to open the car even without a smartphone). Basically, you pay 28 cents per minute for driving and 10 for parking, but you can build a customized profile and therefore spend much less, up to 10 cents per minute. The mileage for each ride is unlimited and for women the night rides are free, as mentioned, from one to 6. In Rome, the service began on 1 October with 400 vehicles and already 5 subscribers. In all, with Milan and Florence, there are 1.400 cars available to customers.
