Written by: Tom Beckett
293 hours a year
Hiring your Car
3% of our lives
That’s the average time we spend stuck behind the wheel of a car.
Surely there’s a better way?
Another stat is that drivers spend an average of £388 a month just on their car!
The bottom line is cars cost money, carbon and stress.
So how can we make it better for us and the planet?
Our amazing @Research_Associate’s have found some incredible companies to help people reduce their car use.
These findings will save on the personal and environmental impacts of driving.
By using a bicycle and the local public transport, my wife and I have stopped using our car for commutes. It sits in our driveway effectively costing us money as it needs a service and MOT every year. I dream about getting an electric vehicle but can’t justify the cost.
I’ve come across an amazing suggestion from @Rachel who has recommended we partner with HiyaCar 1.
HiyaCar 1 states you could make £650 a month from hiring your car when it’s available and it gets deliver back to your front door. They install a box into your car for free and take a small commission on your hires. People who want to use your car use an app to open your car and use it.
I’ve just signed up and I’ll let you know how it goes. Hopefully it earns me enough money to justify buying an electric car on lease!
Lift Sharing
Technology has granted us amazing opportunities to cut the use of our cars. There are enormous communities out there helping one another share lifts and parking. Our research reveals some amazing opportunities to ditch the car, save or make money and be more sociable, here are a few.
Lift Share 2 provides you a way to share a lift on your regular commute. Sign up, share your journey and get sharing!
En Route Parking supports commuters to find places to coalesce around taking lifts, and also finds good spots for parking.
Go Car Share 2 and BlaBlaCar 2 are communities of people getting lifts between cities and to events. If you’re a long distance driver then you could make some money and if you want to get somewhere this provides a robust solution.
Car Clubs
These schemes are incredible as they can help you get rid of one or more cars. The model is that you pay a small monthly subscription and then can get access to vehicles using your phone or a card. If you’re under 23 these are probably not an option for you though, as alongside providing a driving license and credit card, this is a pre-requisit.
Co-Wheels 2 has set up a series of franchises across the UK. These local car clubs provide vehicles which are owned and benefit a local community and are located in all major cities. You can even set up your own if you’ve got a group of people locally who want to do the same!
Zip Car 1 runs car clubs in Oxford, Cambridge, London and Bristol. A lot of their cars are electric!