City CarShare Now Has Greenest Fleet of Any Carsharing Organization in the Country

SAN FRANCISCO--December 6, 2013: City CarShare, the largest nonprofit carsharing organization in North America, announced it has achieved its goal of having more than 50 percent of its fleet comprised of electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles – a goal that it met more than one year ahead of schedule. This makes City CarShare the greenest carshare organization among those offering a variety of vehicle models to its members.

“By making carsharing affordable, convenient and now even greener, they have helped thousands of Bay Area businesses and residents align their actions to make our air cleaner and reduce our carbon footprint.”

“Today is a landmark day for our organization,” said Rick Hutchinson, City CarShare CEO. “In 2011, we announced our core goal to convert half of our fleet to all-electric, plug-in hybrid or hybrid vehicles by 2015. I’m pleased to say that we’ve met that goal far ahead of schedule.”

“Our members have told us they want to live and work in more sustainable ways, while saving money. City CarShare hopes our success in providing the most affordable green fleet in the industry will be a challenge to other providers, businesses and municipalities to right-size their fleets, as well.”

Combining its own capital with support grants from the Federal Highway Administration, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, City CarShare’s fleet now contains 54% battery-based vehicles. By year end, an additional 15 PEVs (plug-in electric vehicles) will be added to the fleet through an innovative partnership with Toyota, called Dash EV. This program is currently offered at Hacienda in Pleasanton and will expand to other locations in 2014.

“City CarShare, a nonprofit partner that started, stayed and grew here in San Francisco’s sharing economy, embodies our City’s leadership in innovation and environmental action,” said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “By making carsharing affordable, convenient and now even greener, they have helped thousands of Bay Area businesses and residents align their actions to make our air cleaner and reduce our carbon footprint.”

City CarShare also reported that its fleet averages just under 50 miles per gallon, based on EPA standards and that it is on pace to reduce C02 emissions in the Bay Area by 90 million pounds per year in 2013.

City CarShare provides easy access and convenience to its shared vehicles with more than 220 locations in nine Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Daly City, El Cerrito, Fremont and Pleasanton. The fleet includes the all-electric Ford Focus, Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMiEV, and Scion iQ; the Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Volt, and Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrids; and the Toyota Camry, Ford C-Max, and Toyota Prius hybrids. The electric vehicle fleet includes installing charging stations for members and additional stations for public use.