DriveNow

Not to be confused with ReachNow, a former BMW carsharing service.
DriveNow
Company typePrivate (GmbH & Co. KG)
IndustryCar rental
FoundedJune 2011 (2011-06)
Defunct2019 (2019)
FateMerged with car2go
SuccessorShare Now
Headquarters
Munich
,
Germany
ServicesCarsharing
ParentBMW
Websitewww.drive-now.com

DriveNow was a one-way carsharing service wholly owned by the automotive manufacturer BMW.[1] In 2019, DriveNow and car2go, a carsharing service from Daimler AG, merged to form the global mobility provider Share Now,[2] with a combined fleet of 20,000 vehicles in 31 cities in 14 countries and over four million members worldwide.[3][4] Share Now is one of the five mobility services which are part of the mobility joint venture of the BMW Group and the Daimler AG.[5]

DriveNow service began in Munich, Germany in June 2011.[6] As of October 2017, DriveNow operated over 6,000 vehicles in nine European countries.[7] Apart from five cities in Germany - Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Düsseldorf, and Cologne - DriveNow is available in Vienna, Copenhagen, Brussels, Milan, Helsinki and Lisbon.[8] In October 2017, the company reached the milestone of one million customers.[9]

DriveNow operated a fleet comprising only vehicles manufactured by subsidiaries of BMW Group including various MINI models (3 and 5 door, Convertible, Clubman, Countryman) as well as BMW X1, X2, i3, 1 series, and 2 series.[10]

Created as a joint venture between BMW Group and the car rental company Sixt SE holding 50% of shares each, DriveNow became a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW in March 2018. On 29 January 2018, BMW announced that Sixt SE had agreed to sell its 50% stake for c. €209 million.[11] In April 2018, BMW Group and Daimler AG agreed to combine their mobility services, including their car sharing devices DriveNow and car2go, to shape sustainable urban mobility for the future.[12]

A similar BMW service, ReachNow, was offered in North American cities from April 2016 to July 2019, in Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn, New York. In contrast to DriveNow, ReachNow's technology platform was provided by RideCell rather than Sixt.[13]

  1. ^ "DriveNow comes to Helsinki". CleanTechnica. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  2. ^ "car2go and DriveNow join forces for new car-sharing firm". AirqualityNews.com. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  3. ^ "SHARE NOW:Facts and figures". car2go. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  4. ^ "car2go and DriveNow join forces: SHARE NOW to become the biggest free-floating carshare provider worldwide". Cision Newswire. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  5. ^ "car2go and DriveNow join forces for new car-sharing firm". AirqualityNews.com. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  6. ^ "What San Francisco taught BMW Group about car-sharing". Fortune. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  7. ^ "car2go and DriveNow join forces for new car-sharing firm". AirqualityNews.com. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  8. ^ "DriveNow to Launch Carsharing Service in Lisbon". Autorentalnews. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  9. ^ "DriveNow reaches one million customers milestone". Fleetnews. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  10. ^ "DriveNow Carsharing with BMW and MINI". DriveNow. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  11. ^ "Sixt to sell its DriveNow stake to BMW". Reuters. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  12. ^ "DriveNow and car2go combine to offer extended ride-sharing services". Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  13. ^ "BMW Restarts Car-Sharing in the U.S. With New Name and Tech". Fortune. Retrieved 18 December 2017.