Car clubs taxonomy and description

Terminology
Car clubs are usually organised schemes, which members of the public can join to gain access to a vehicle for short periods of time. Elsewhere in Europe and in North America, car clubs are often referred to as car sharing. Car clubs differ from hiring a car in that club members pay an annual membership fee and can book a car either by telephone or using the internet for anything from a couple of hours to a couple of days. A mileage fee is charged to cover fuel costs. In most clubs, members would collect and return the car from a centrally located parking bay with no administration beyond booking the vehicle. The cars are generally obtained through a long term lease from a hire company by the club organisers, although a group of individuals can establish their own club. Clubs can own anything from one vehicle to a few hundred, with the geographical area and number of club members served ranging accordingly.

A car club differs from conventional hiring in that access to the vehicles requires membership of the car club organisation and provides greater flexibility in that vehicles can be booked out for very short periods of time. This means that aside from the relatively small joining/membership fees, the member pays for use rather than access to a car for a whole day, weekend, week or other period. For example, a club member could book a vehicle for one hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, just taking possession of the car for those periods. Consequently, only those hours are paid for. To obtain the same level of access via conventional car hire, it is probable that the vehicle would need to be booked out for 24 hours at a much greater cost.

Styles of Car Club
The most basic, and therefore, lowest cost, model for a car club is a group of individuals purchasing a vehicle between them and making arrangements for using the car on a one to one basis. It is likely that the car would be based at a member's house in this situation. The club may not be seeking to grow, merely serve the needs of members, thus the desire for profit may be low. The geographical area served by the club is likely to be small. At the other end of the scale, clubs can be established in partnership with local authorities and/or transport operators. Vehicles can be obtained on long term lease from a hire organisation and be equipped with high tech access and tracking systems. The vehicles are likely to be parked at specified bays in the area served, and once booked can be accessed with a security tag identifying the bearer to an on board computer. The booking procedure is likely to be over the telephone via a call centre, and/or the internet. Additionally, the desire to expand and make a profit is likely to be greater. Thus, the geographical area served can eventually encompass entire countries. The Swiss scheme, "Mobility", which started back in 1987 now has nationwide coverage with 44,000 members in 350 communities, with 1,750 cars in 900 locations. Despite this, a common feature of nearly all clubs, is the need for community involvement and very often a committed community champion in the initial start-up phase. Once a club is established, links can be formed with public transport providers, giving members discounted public transport journeys. Such a link between Mobility and the Swiss railways resulted in rapid expansion of club. Mobility is also a member of ECS (European CarShare), an European umbrella group. Through this, Mobility members can access cars via other clubs in 80 European cities.

Levels of charge
The charges made by car clubs vary. The variability is a function of the level of technology involved, the cost of obtaining vehicles and the desire to make a profit. The larger and more sophisticated the club, the greater will be the administrative and staffing costs.

Woodgate car club in Leicester, a low tech club established and organised by members, charges £100 membership per year, plus £1.40 per hour of use. Three hours use per week would therefore cost £6.12 per week regardless of mileage.

BEST car club in Bristol, a higher tech club established and run in partnership with the local authority and transport operator, charges £25 joining fee, £100 one-off refundable deposit against accidents, £100 per year membership, £2 per hour of use and £0.15 per mile. Excluding the one off joining fee and deposit, three hours use per week would cost £7.92 per week plus mileage. Assuming 10 miles per week, the cost would be £9.42 per week.

For the purposes of comparison, hiring a small car (e.g. Vauxhall, Corsa) for a day can cost approximately £30 (2002 prices).

Technology
The level of technology involved at the outset of a club is often low, as nearly all are low-cost, community based organisations designed to meet local needs. However, as clubs grow the need for technology to facilitate smooth operations management grows. In line with this, rapid communications technology developments mean that the cutting edge clubs utilise and rely on very sophisticated technology. The use of such technology can also influence consumer perceptions. It is likely that the higher tech services are perceived as higher quality, more efficient and safer services. Technology can impact on the following areas of a club's operations, economic viability and service quality in the following ways:

An example of the technology available is COCOS (CarSharing Organisation and Communication System). The central element of the system is an on-board computer including an electronic immobiliser, sensor-interface and electronic identification system. The on-board computer can also be connected with mobile data radio systems, contactless access control systems or electronic key safe boxes. COCOS is supplied by INVERS GmbH based in Siegen,Germany. http://www.casharingeurope.org/ext/invers_e/base.htm, 2002.