Evo adds 250 more cars to fleet as Car2Go prepares to leave Vancouver
New cars will arrive in the spring, company says
The car-share service Evo has announced it will be adding 250 more cars to its Vancouver-based fleet, a little more than three weeks before its biggest competitor drops out of the local market.
A statement Wednesday said Evo's new hybrid cars will arrive in the spring, with the company setting its sights on a second expansion in the summer.
Tai Silvey, the company vice-president, described the expansion as Evo "stepping up" as its rival shuts down operations.
Share Now, formerly known as Car2Go, is pulling out of North America after Feb. 29.
The company announced its departure in December, blaming it on the "volatile state of the global mobility landscape." It cited increased competition among car-share services, rising operating costs and the lack of infrastructure to support new technology such as electric vehicles.
An Evo statement said more than 8,000 new members have signed up for its service since Share Now made its announcement on Dec. 18 — 50 per cent more new user registrations than the same period the year before.
A total of 576 signed up on the day of the announcement alone. It was a record-breaking number for Evo and five times higher than the average number of daily sign-ups.
At the time, Silvey said Share Now's departure would ease Evo's competition in the city, but he said a selection of transportation options is important in any community.
"Choice is always a good thing for consumers, so it's a sad day for that," he said in December.
Car-sharing capital
A report published in 2018 found Vancouver was the "car-sharing capital of North America," with more vehicles per capita than any other city on the continent. It found there are 4.22 car-share vehicles per 1,000 people in Vancouver.
Vancity, a community credit union, said widespread car-sharing could be contributing to a drop in greenhouse-gas emissions.
"As car-sharing grows in popularity, it's important for car-sharing companies to continue to look for opportunities to incorporate low-emissions vehicles into their fleets," said Anthonia Ogundele, Vancity's manager of environmental sustainability, said in a statement.
Evo said its fleet is made up Toyota Prius hybrids.
Vancouver is also serviced by two other, smaller car-sharing companies: Modo and Zipcar.