User:Samparton/Person-to-person car rental

Description
Peer-to-peer car rental (also known as person-to-person car rental, a peer-to-peer car club and peer-to-peer car sharing) is the process whereby an existing car owner makes their vehicle available for use to other drivers in their area in exchange for payment. The term is seen as a natural extension of the Person-to-person lending model (also known as peer-to-peer lending and social lending) and a further move towards collaborative consumption, which has become popular with the rise of social media.

The business model is closely aligned to traditional car clubs such as Streetcar or Zipcar, but replaces a typical fleet with a ‘virtual’ fleet made up of participating owners’ vehicles. With person-to-person car rental, participating car owners are able to make money from their vehicle whenever they are not using them. Participating drivers are given access to a close and affordable vehicle and will only pay for the time they need to use it.

Businesses within this space typically apply some form of screening of participants (both owners and drivers) and a technical solution usually in the form of a website to bring these parties together, to manage bookings and to take payment. Increasingly an automated form of insurance and breakdown cover will be applied to rentals that take place through the service in order to protect an owner’s existing insurance cover.

As with person-to-person lending, enabling technology for this behavior has been the Internet and the adoption of geo-location-based service.

Businesses and Business Models
Various listings sites have long-enabled participants to list goods for purchase or hire, but dedicated peer-to-peer car rental services are a comparatively new business model. There are currently a number of businesses applying four distinct approaches within this market.

Australia
Drive My Car Rentals – based in Australia, was the world's first peer-to-peer car sharing Marketplace. Launched in December 2008, it offers a listings site where car owners pay a $25 AUS ($15 US) annual fee to list their vehicle, whilst drivers can join for free. A more recent development is the creation of a first of its kind hybrid insurance product that enables private cars to be covered both during rentals to another driver and whilst owner drives it themselves. For some $1500 AUS (£1000 US) per year a car owner can choose to take out this insurance policy to cover them for normal car use and for third party hire. There are now approximately 300 different cars on the site ranging from budget to luxury, such as a 1968 Ford Galaxie to a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo. They have vehicles available all over Australia, with plans for international expansion during 2011.

United Kingdom
WhipCar – based in London, WhipCar was formed in March 2009 and launched the world’s first peer-to-peer car rental service in April 2010. They offer a bespoke fully integrated insurance product and screening of drivers who sign up. They differ from a conventional car club in that there are no membership fees owners and drivers must communicate and hand over the keys directly. They are currently the world's largest peer-to-peer car club and raised venture capital funding in October 2009. They claim to have over 40 makes of car available to rent and to be present in over 300 towns and cities across the UK. WhipCar are expecting to take six months to get to the number of vehicles that the U.K.'s leading car club (Streetcar) took six years to attain. Availability of vehicles is managed via an automated tool to screen participating vehicles and provide a guide price for participation.

USA
RelayRides- based in Boston, RelayRides was registered in April 2009, and launched an initial pilot in Boston in June 2010. They are the first company to attempt to integrate the existing Black box technology from car clubs into private car owner’s vehicles, with a business model closely aligned to that of car clubs. They raised offer a single insurance policy to cover their drivers during rentals. They are believed to have over 24 vehicles available to hire in the Boston area and the company estimates that vehicle owners could earn from $2,250 to $8,000 annually.

Sprideshare– based in San Francisco, Sprideshare is set to a launch a pilot scheme in collaboration with City Car Share in late 2011. Their model is akin to RelayRides requiring vehicles to be fitted with technology which enables them to be remotely unlocked. They have faced a major insurance barrier, routed in California insurance law, but are working with California State Assembly member Dave Jones to create Assembly Bill 1871, which would change insurance law to permit remuneration for personal vehicle sharing. They forecast that this bill could be signed by March 2011 and their scheme rolled out nationally towards the end of 2011.

Getaround – a San Francisco based start-up founded in June 2010. Focuses on using smart phone technology to facilitate person-to-person car rental. They have created unique technology entitled ‘The Car Kit,’ which enables keyless entry to a converted vehicle through the ability of a Driver to unlock a vehicle through their smartphone. Getaround is currently in beta version and set go live in early 2011.

JustShareIt - based in San Francisco. They developed a unique model which involves sharing of valued underutilized assets one of which including cars. They are the first company in the world to have a device which includes a webcam and integrates with any cell phone/handheld devices such as older phones, PDAs, smartphones, Tablets etc. which in-turn facilitates the transaction between the owner and the borrower. Their main focus is to build a trusted community which is safe & secure without any key exchanges required. The webcam/device ensures that the borrower is the one driving and the car is well maintained for sharing. They are currently in alpha version and set to go live in early 2011. Eagerly waiting to go to beta after the California Bill AB 1871 is in effect on 1st Jan 2011.

Go-op – a Pittsburgh based start up which is developing an online system for vehicle sharing that is environmentally friendly and provides revenue to car owners.

Timeline

 * Oct 2008 – Drive My Car Rentals – launches listings site in Australia
 * March 2009 - Whipcar formed.
 * August 2009 - RelayRides formed
 * January 2010 Sprideshare formed
 * April 2010 - Whipcar launches in London, UK.
 * May 2010 – Drive My Car Rentals – website and service redesign – introduction of world first hybrid annual insurance policy product
 * June 2010 - RelayRides launches Beta product in Boston
 * June 2010 – Getaround founded
 * Early 2011 Sprideshare set to launch in San Francisco
 * Early 2011 - JustShareIt set to launch in California

Categories
Category:Car sharing Category:Road transport Category:Sustainable transport