Zipcar Charges Into Central London with Hybrids, Expands Chicago Fleet

Car-Share Service Also Campaigns an EV in Its London Fleet

Zipcar, the world's largest car-sharing service, is installing an electric-vehicle charging pod in central London , where it has launched a car-sharing club that will provide members Britain's largest group of shared hybrid vehicles.

Zipcar's central London club , started in partnership with the City of Westminster, is the U.K.'s "greenest" with 20 hybrid cars and an all-electric Citroen c1, the company said. By 2012, about 30% of the club's 400 cars will be hybrids or EVs, Zipcar said.

With that in mind, Zipcar London this week unveiled its first-ever charging pod that can service both plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles such as the Citroen EV.

The company earlier this year installed a plug-in hybrid charging pod in San Francisco.

The Westminster (London) car club will charge 3.95 pounds ($6.35) an hour and 29 pounds ($46.60) a day for shared car rentals, with a daily driving limit set at 60 miles, or 100 kilometers.

"We were one of the first councils in the U.K. to introduce a range of financial incentives for electric vehicle owners and with this scheme we are once again demonstrating our commitment to the green agenda," said Danny Chalkley, the Westminster City Council's cabinet member for city management.

Separately, closely held Zipcar said in a separate statement this week that it has expanded its Chicago car fleet to 400 vehicles, an increase of about 20%  from a year ago, according to company spokesman John Williams. Almost 30 percent of the Chicago fleet are hybrids.

Zipcar also cut the pricing on some of its cars to $7 an hour from its regular $9.25 hourly rate.

Founded in 1999, Cambridge, Mass -based Zipcar serves its 300,000 members with a fleet of 6,500 cars, including almost 1,000 hybrid vehicles.

Posted by

John O'Dell July 10, 2009, 8:01 AM

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Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric

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Zipcar, Zipcar Hybrids, Zipcar London

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