Driving with car2go

We are a one car family with a scooter for quick trips around our little village of Edgewater. Now that the kids are home for the summer, I don’t always have use of the family minivan. During the summer, I have to get creative with transportation.

Thankfully this summer is different because of car2go’s entrance into Edgewater.

Car2go is a car sharing company owned by Daimler AG operating in European and North American cities including Denver. Recently car2go expanded into Edgewater.

Before using car2go to travel to two meetings in downtown Denver, I researched how the service works including where to park. There is always a risk in using a new service and I didn’t want to end up downtown without a way home. Fortunately, car2go has great online resources for how the service works including instructions on parking.

I began my journey looking for the nearest car2go car and thankfully there was one about a block away at Jefferson High School. I walked to the car, swiped my membership card on the windshield sensor and jumped in the car. Once inside the car, the dashboard touchscreen walked me through starting the car and getting on my way.

Driving downtown in a Smart Fortwo is much easier than the big, family minivan. Parallel parking was a breeze as well. I ended my trip for my first meeting instead of taking the key with me to save money. If I took the key with me then I would be charged by the minute while I was in my meeting. The risk is that someone would take the car and I wouldn’t have access to another car close by after my meeting.

Thankfully, when I stepped out of my first meeting there was another car right outside the building. So I jumped in and drove to my second meeting parking in a Starbucks parking lot. An hour later the car was still accessible and I drove home.

There were risks of not having a car close by after each of my meetings, but thankfully on this trip I had access to a car when I needed one. The process of starting my journey in the car along with ending the trip were simple and the dashboard touch screen helped me each step of the way.

Car2go is great for folks that need access to a car without the expenses and hassles of car ownership. It is simple, easy to use and great for city driving. It is a perfect solution for out and back trips yet risky for trips that involve multiple stops with long stayovers. It would be awesome to unlock the car with the car2go iPhone app instead of a membership card, but I assume there are technology roadblocks keeping car2go from unlocking this feature.

Find out more about car2go here.

Joel Newton

Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.