The Mercedes-Benz GLA crossover will be available this week to D.C. and Arlington customers of Car2Go, a car-sharing service. (Faiz Siddiqui/The Washington Post)
Car2Go has become synonymous with its fleet of diminutive, white Smart cars ribboned with blue that zip around the city at all hours. When they’re not roving around the District and Arlington, they’re arousing curiosity on residential streets, where they’re squeezed between comparably bulky sedans and titanic gas guzzlers.
Enter Car2Go’s latest models, a gleaming departure from conventional perceptions of car-sharing services: Mercedes, that’s right, Mercedes-Benz sedans and crossovers.
A fleet of them will become available to the D.C. region’s 59,000 members this week — a small slice of sport-luxury for the masses in what Car2Go is hailing as its biggest announcement since its public North American launch in 2010.
It’s part of an investment — officials declined to say how much — from parent company Daimler AG, which owns the automaker, and it comes as a boon to the car-sharing service that has surged to become the world’s largest, with 2.2 million members.
The car-sharing giant expects to inject its regional fleet with as many as 70 Mercedes-Benz CLA and GLA models by the end of next month, as the new sets of wheels take the place of older Smart cars in the 600-vehicle arsenal. And with the investment ranging in the thousands of vehicles, Car2Go expects Mercedes-Benz models to be the majority of its fleet by year’s end, the company said. The District’s share will remain about 10 percent of its fleet for now, the company said.
The District joins Austin, Portland, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver as the first six North American cities to receive the new models.
Car2Go “is already the most popular car-sharing service in the world. Now it will be even more attractive to small groups of friends and families who want to conveniently travel around cities in style, safety, and comfort,” Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said in a statement.
Company officials say the four-door sedans and five-door crossovers will unlock a new realm of possibilities for users: dates, vacations, Saturday jaunts to Ikea.
“ ‘If you had four-door vehicles, I might be able to get rid of my car’ — I hear that all the time,” said Aaron Landry, Car2Go’s D.C. general manager. “That’s what we’re going for . . . for the District of Columbia and for Arlington County because there’s so many different players, and there’s so many different people that want to have fewer vehicles in the District overall. That’s the need we’re trying to fulfill.”
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The move aligns with investments European carmakers have been pouring into car-sharing services in recent years. Rival automaker BMW has a similar service called ReachNow that offers 3-
series and various Mini Cooper models to car-sharing customers in Seattle, Brooklyn and Portland. The 40,000-member service’s models appeal to everyone from “tech-savvy urbanites” to single- and zero-car families looking for more vehicle flexibility, BMW North American spokesman Phil DiIanni said. The service has no current plans to expand into the District.
Experts say offering luxury models sheds traditional notions of car-sharing, appealing to a broader market and presenting an opportunity to automakers and fledgling start-ups.
If “the cars are interesting or special, customers are more willing to go out of their way to find and try them,” said Ali Moiz, former chief executive of HiGear, a now-defunct luxury car-sharing company. He said introducing luxury models is a way of attracting “higher-spending, premium customers to your business.”
But ReachNow and start-ups like it have faced challenges when it comes to maintaining their untraditional fleets.
ReachNow temporarily suspended service in Brooklyn after encountering what DiIanni called “some maintenance and technical issues,” the nature of which he declined to specify. And HiGear had to disband in 2012 after a criminal ring targeted its high-end cars, resulting in a string of vehicle thefts, technology website TechCrunch.com reported. The company was eventually acquired, the site reported.
[Arlington Car2Go drivers will soon be able to go into the District]
Unlike HiGear’s high-end fleet, Car2Go’s new models are entry-level vehicles in the $30,000 range, not top-of-the-line sports cars. A recent showcase revealed why they might prove popular with customers. The cars are more spacious and loaded with amenities: rearview cameras, blind-spot assist, panoramic sunroofs, smartphone integration and adaptive braking, meaning the car can autonomously brake at up to 65 mph when a collision might be likely.
Entry is keyless and controlled through a Smartphone-based password system. And while they don’t have the small footprint of the Smart models, they do have some eco-friendly features. A start-and-stop system cuts off the engine to prevent the car from using gas when it’s idling. The feature did, however, prove a bit awkward during a downtown demonstration as the car was inching forward behind a Metrobus in afternoon traffic.
When the accelerator roared back to life, it carried a kick.
Most of all, the cars are spacious, with leather seats and an air of grandeur not expected of a car-sharing service. Whether they’ll stay that way through the wear-and-tear of daily use remains to be seen.
Whereas the Smart cars serve essentially as moving billboards for the service, the new models contain more subtle branding: small decals on the door, with a list of the cities where the new vehicles are available.
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“The Smart for two and the blue and white Smarts have been a visual pillar of our brand — it’s walking advertising,” said Car2Go spokeswoman Blaire Kniffin. “You’re now seeing this car. You have to stop and look pretty closely to notice that it’s a car-sharing vehicle. And we did that intentionally, really wanting people to feel like these are their cars. It’s their network of cars. And it’s not some company-branded vehicle.”
The new models are pricier than the Smart cars, running $19 an hour — four dollars more than the traditional Car2Go — and $79 a day, $20 more than the Smart car. (The per-minute rate of 45 cents is four cents higher than the alternative).
Will theft be an issue? And what about wear and tear? Landry said Car2Go is prepared, with a rigorous program to maintain its fleet and security features. The vehicles are equipped with immobilization systems that are “extremely secure,” he said.
“We’ve refined and continue to improve upon the security of the vehicle,” he said.
Moiz said companies can cut down on the possibility of theft with streamlined processes for tighter background checks, collecting multiple forms of identification and requiring security deposits. He said larger firms such as Daimler and BMW are better positioned to implement such safeguards because they have streamlined their sign-up processes.
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“So many people already live car-ownership-free, and a lot of people are on the edge of making that decision, Landry said. “For people who are ready to have one fewer car in a household or go car-free, why not let them have one of the best cars you can drive?”