Image credits: Check
Amsterdam-based Check, a shared moped provider, announced on Monday that it is adding shared cars to its portfolio.
Check offers a mobile app that allows users to reserve and use electric shared mopeds, and now electric shared cars, per minute.
The Dutch startups intend to start a pilot with ten shared cars, all of them being fully electric Volkswagen ID3s, in Amsterdam.
Before deciding to expand further, the company intends to analyse the data from the pilot. If the pilot’s outcomes meet the expectations, the company has an ambitious growth plan prepared: it plans to have multiple shared cars on the road before the year-end.
Every car has a charging card included, allowing the user to recharge the car quickly in case of a low battery level.
Cars are made available in different zones, and users are required to park the vehicle within a small vicinity of streets that belong to the same zone at the end of their trip.
Conditions for renting a car
- For renting a car, users must be 18 years or older and have a valid car driver’s licence.
- Current users who already have an account at Check can thus immediately start using shared cars.
- The app allows users to reserve cars whenever they require them, and once they’ve made a booking, they have a half-hour window to get to the vehicle and commence their journey.
- Similar to how Check moped rentals work, the user is charged only for the time they use a shared car after starting the ride.
- The cost of using the car includes an initial fee of 2 euros to unlock it, followed by a charge of 30 cents per minute while driving, and a fee of 15 cents per minute for pausing the ride. There are no mileage costs afterward, says the company.
Check: Creating a livable cities
“Check’s mission is to create livable cities by reducing unnecessary car ownership and use. Adding shared cars is a seamless fit,” says co-founder and managing director Paul van Merrienboer.
“We see that our shared mopeds offer a strong alternative to car travel within the city. However, if a user has an appointment on the other side of the country, or needs to go to the hardware store, a shared moped is not always the solution. By adding shared cars, we now also have an answer to that mobility need. A private car is no longer needed,” he adds.
By adding shared cars, the company now also facilitates rides outside urban areas. Check is active in 20 cities in the Netherlands and Germany.