Daimler has just announced that it is launching a pilot project in Ulm, Germany – car2go. The project will begin on October 24, 2008 and features 50 smart fortwos that are available for rent while you are in the city.

Details of the car2go project:

“A fleet of smart fortwo vehicles will be made available within the city, functioning for all citizens as a vehicle pool that can be accessed at any time. Following a one-off registration process, the smarts can be hired spontaneously in passing, or pre-booked and used for as long as desired. The concept aims to ensure that a reliable vehicle is available at any time, just a few minutes walk away. The customer gets in and can drive off right away. Once the trip is completed, the driver simply parks the rental smart somewhere within the city limits. Billing for the Ulm project is just as straightforward and flexible as the entire operation of car2go – to the nearest minute, for just 19 cents per minute.” (Source: Daimler)

Once a person registers for the service, his driver’s license will have an electronic chip inserted that allows the car to be unlocked. Customers will be able to search for vehicles close to them as well as arrange for the rental entirely online.

This is such a fantastic idea and really shows how forward thinking Daimler is. I can see a service like this being popular in several urban areas in the United States and would love to see Daimler push the project out to a domestic test market.

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