Share Now


Share Now GmbH was a German carsharing company, formed from the merger of Car2Go and DriveNow. From 2022, it was a subsidiary of the Free2Move division of multinational automaker Stellantis providing carsharing services in urban areas in Europe, and formerly in North America. It had over four million registered members and a fleet of over 14,000 vehicles in 18 cities across Europe.
The company offered only Smart, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mini, Fiat and Citroën vehicles during the period when it was jointly owned by BMW and Mercedes-Benz and arranged one-way point-to-point rentals. Users were charged by the minute, or by hourly and daily rates. A smartphone app was used to enable hirers to access the vehicle.
Stellantis acquired ShareNow in July 2022 via its Free2Move subsidiary. The company is gradually integrated until April 2024 into Free2Move.

History

introduced the service in Ulm, Germany, in October 2008, where it was developed by one of its internal business innovation units and was first tested exclusively by Daimler employees.
Starting in May 2015, car2go added a $1 'Driver Protection Fee' for each ride to offset the lowered deductible.
Since inception, car2go withdrew from several locations, including Britain, where it closed its service in London and Birmingham after only a year of operation. Because of a lack of charging stations, car2go in San Diego, California, replaced its all-electric vehicle fleet with gasoline-powered cars starting on 1 May 2016. When the service started in 2011, car2go expected 1,000 charging stations to be deployed around the city, but only 400 were in place by early 2016. As a result, an average of 20% of the carsharing fleet is unavailable at any given time because the cars are either being charged or do not have enough charge to be driven. At the end of 2016 car2go left the San Diego market.
In January 2018, Daimler and BMW appeared to prepare the merger of their carsharing subsidiaries to strengthen their market position. On March 1, 2018, Daimler announced that its subsidiary Daimler Mobility Services had acquired the 25% stake of minority shareholder Europcar Group for an undisclosed amount to now hold 100% of car2go's European subsidiary. The new combined company is called ShareNow.

Downsizing

In late 2019, the company announced that it would close all North American operations on 29 February 2020 because of excessive competition, increasing costs of operation and its limited infrastructure for supporting electric vehicles.
Service in London, Brussels and Florence would also cease because of inadequate usage. That would leave ShareNow with operations in 18 cities in Europe, locations that "show the greatest potential for profitable growth and mobility innovation", according to the company.

Acquired by Stellantis

On 3 May 2022, the acquisition of Share Now by the automobile manufacturer Stellantis was announced. The acquisition was closed on 18 July 2022 and Stellantis subsidiary Free2Move handles the Share Now ownership.

Locations

Current

The following table details all locations where ShareNow is active:
indicates electric fleet
CityCountryFleetStart date
Amsterdam Netherlands300
BerlinGermany1,800
Copenhagen Denmark500
Düsseldorf/CologneGermany1,100
FrankfurtGermany300
Hamburg Germany1,100
Madrid Spain600
MilanItaly1,400
Munich Germany1,000
Münster Germany
Paris France700
RomeItaly600
StuttgartGermany350
TurinItaly350
ViennaAustria1,000

Former

The following table details all locations where Share Now is no longer active as of 2019:
City/
Municipality		CountryStart dateEnd dateReference
UlmGermany
LyonFrance
LondonUnited Kingdom
BirminghamUnited Kingdom
South Bay, Los AngelesUnited States
Eugene, OregonUnited States
CopenhagenDenmark
MiamiUnited States
StockholmSweden
Minneapolis-Saint PaulUnited States
San DiegoUnited States
TorontoCanada
ColumbusUnited States
ChongqingChina
AustinUnited StatesOctober 2019
CalgaryCanadaOctober 2019
DenverUnited StatesOctober 2019
Portland, OregonUnited StatesOctober 2019
ChicagoUnited StatesDecember 2019
VancouverCanadaFebruary 2020
Washington, D.C.United StatesFebruary 2020
SeattleUnited StatesFebruary 2020
MontrealCanadaFebruary 2020
FlorenceItalyFebruary 2020
New York CityUnited StatesFebruary 2020
HelsinkiFinlandMarch 2020
LisbonPortugalMarch 2020
BudapestHungaryOctober 2023

Fleet

The following models are active in the ShareNow fleet. The selection of available vehicles varies depending on the location.
The Share Now business model was similar in all markets, although rates vary by location. The company charges a per minute rate, with discounted fixed rates for hourly and daily usage also available and applied automatically. The rates are all-inclusive and cover rental, gas, insurance, parking, and maintenance, a low fixed annual fee is sometimes also charged. In most markets, Share Now vehicles can be parked in either specially designated parking spots, or in standard parking areas, with a special permit from the local municipality. Users had the option of refueling cars with a supplied charge card, customers receive bonus minutes for performing this service.

Vehicles

In most cities, Share Now offered only two-passenger vehicles, namely two types of Smart Fortwo "car2go edition" vehicles: gasoline-powered, and electric-powered. The gasoline-powered cars can be found in three variants based on roof configuration: "original" with integrated solar panel roof; "upgraded" with a panoramic polycarbonate roof and power side mirrors; and "new" featuring a standard roof. Electric Share Now models were currently available in several markets, had a range of, and needed to be recharged every two or three days.

Apps

First-party and third-party apps for mobile devices allowed users to locate and reserve vehicles. When reserving a car online, the customers are able to see the car's fuel gauge or the battery's state of charge, so if the customer wants to go for an extended drive, they can find the right car for that trip.