Electric Vehicles for Everyone: How Car Sharing Makes Electric Vehicles Accessible | Slideshows

For Edwin Lindo, new electric vehicle chargers were a sign that he would soon be forced out of his neighborhood. “Communities that have been historically gentrified and marginalized,” he says, “we typically don’t get the opportunity to access useful technologies.”

Two electric vehicle chargers now sit outside Estelita Library, the Seattle community library and bookstore that Lindo co-founded. One can be used by anyone, the other is reserved for a rentable wheelchair-accessible electric vehicle from the electric car-sharing cooperative ZEV, which costs $8 per hour to use.

The ZEV EV is used by locals for church visits, hospital visits and excursions. Sometimes Lindo drives around in the car and picks up someone who has too much food.

ZEV (which stands for “Zero Emission Vehicle”) operates 11 vehicles in Washington state. It’s part of a growing electric vehicle sharing movement that puts community first. The EPA reports that transportation is the third largest source of carbon emissions in the country. 57% of these emissions come from cars and light trucks. Electric vehicles could be a key driver of electrification – and car sharing can help make electric vehicles more accessible and reduce car ownership – reports Reasons to Be Cheerful.

Tax credits and low maintenance costs make electric vehicles cheaper than gasoline cars in the long run, but upfront costs are still a barrier, says Lindo: “It’s hard to see long-term savings if you’re constantly thinking, ‘How do I survive?'” “

From 1998 to 2009, nonprofit organizations such as San Francisco-based City CarShare and PhillyCarshare gained traction in the United States. But in the 2010s, corporations took over many of these nonprofits.

Since 2016, the federal government has been funding the community exchange of electric cars for low-income and underserved communities. In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided $13.2 billion for car sharing and the Build Back Better Act granted $1 billion for electric vehicle infrastructure in underserved communities. At the state level, California invested the most with $70 million through the California Air Resources Board from 2015 to 2021.

Across the United States, the share of shared electric cars ranges from two to 300 vehicles. Examples include Míocar and BlueLA in California and Evie in Minnesota, which charge between $4 and $16 per hour.

Founded in 2021, ZEV is the only publicly funded car sharing cooperative. A co-op can be more flexible in finding income, says founder Greg Dronkert.

At an individual level, users can be subscribers or members. Subscribers pay a $15 registration fee, a $20 monthly access fee, and $16 per hour each. Members pay a $500 equity share and just $8 an hour for car use. Membership means one vote and the opportunity to run for the board. Right now, most are benefiting from introductory rates of $5 per hour or $8 per hour, depending on the car. A $5 low-income plan is also available. All locations have a grant-funded, dedicated charger exclusively for car sharing use.

To scale, ZEV works with organizations like Estelita’s and supermarket Town and Country Markets, as well as companies like the city of Port Townsend. Through membership, a community group can purchase memberships for its neighbors. Then group members pay $8 per hour, with no other fees.

To collect enough usage fees to be self-sufficient, ZEV still has a long way to go: it will need a total of 135 and 145 electric vehicles that will be in use 50% of the time.

Affordable ridesharing improves transportation access and reduces the cost of living. But initiatives scale slowly and must match their growth to people’s enthusiasm.

Míocar founder Gloria Huerta says that for the 2019 launch, 100 people signed up for their single vehicle overnight. With 45 cars now in nine locations in California (expected to double in the next year), Míocar is one of the most sustainable non-profit car sharing organizations.

The hurdle is low: a membership fee of $20 and instruction grants a few hours of driving credit. Huerta did not increase the starting price of $4 an hour and $35 a day.

Jennifer Flores always thought it was unfair that electric vehicles were unaffordable. “Low-income people commute to work every day. Rich people don’t have to do that,” she says. “Many of us can’t afford the price of gas.”

Last February, Flores scrapped her 2001 Honda Civic because she couldn’t afford a $1,000 repair. Míocar helps her with grocery shopping – especially larger items like dog food or special offers.

Last summer, she completed her community health worker certification at a nearby university. Classes started at 9 a.m. on Saturdays, but bus service didn’t start until 9:30 a.m. on weekends. With Míocar, she got to class on time and didn’t have to worry about gas prices. The certificate led to her planting trees in her community.

But even though the nonprofit has 700 members, only 75 use the cars each month.

Míocar rewards social media posts and completing surveys after each ride with ride credit. One member filled out 500 questionnaires, drove her children to school and doctor’s appointments, and picked up groceries along the way.

“We don’t want to be transactional,” Huerta says. “We want to make sure that we incentivize when someone takes the time to complete a survey and also provide feedback.”

The nonprofit is working with UC Davis to analyze the results and incorporate them into their grant proposals. Huerta says they are funded until 2028.

Huerta points to community attention as another buy-in sign. “If they see a flat tire in one of the vehicles, they call us,” she says. “Car sharing gives the community the feeling of being part of something.”

Car sharing cannot always meet the needs of a community. Sometimes electrical panels do not meet standards. Installing a charger requires costly underground digging, Huerta says.

And the non-profit model is not a panacea. Boston-based Good2GO, a Huerta partner, was forced to close in August due to high costs and funding shortages.

According to Huerta, Míocar managed to keep the cars after funding for certain locations ran out. “Ultimately,” she says, “these vehicles were purchased to stay in the community.”

Nighel Cobb and his wife have lived on Bainbridge Island, Washington, for a year. He learned about ZEV when he walked past one of his cars parked at City Hall near his home. After an accident left them with only one car, Cobb, who works from home, considered purchasing an electric vehicle. But since his wife would likely be relocated for military reasons, he was unsure about the infrastructure at the next location.

For five months, Cobb had doctor’s appointments and used a car five times a week. It is now used more occasionally. Access to the EV network was particularly useful when taking the ferry to Seattle. With wait times for cars on ferries getting longer, Cobb can board the ferry on foot and easily rent a car on the other side.

As a subscriber, he is considering upgrading his membership.

Cobb recommended ZEV to a friend with an older car. “It gives him a lot of trouble and he basically just uses it to go to interviews and go home,” he says. “It creates an additional stressor for him as he tries to balance these car payments and the other issues that come with his car.”

Both word of mouth and outreach events help. Míocar organizes events for each new location added to its system. Last month, the ZEV team introduced the service to passersby at the Estelita Library. As Lindo put it, there are no shortcuts: “This is collaborative work, and it takes time.”

This story was produced by Reasons to be happy and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.