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BMW Group Launches ReachNow Car-Sharing Service in Seattle
The premium car-sharing service will compete with Car2Go
By Lauren Mang April 8, 2016
There’s another player in Seattle’s car-sharing market: BMW Group announced today that it’s debuting its ReachNow premium car-sharing service, which includes a fleet of 370 vehicles comprised of the BMW 3 Series, the electric BMW i3 and the MINI Cooper.
The program is set to take on the existing Car2Go car-sharing service–which launched in Seattle in 2012–and has a similar app-driven, on-demand experience, but with a more “premium” slant: registration ($39) for first-time users is expected to take no more than two minutes and the cars are equipped with navigation, heated seats, moon roofs and high-end interior finishes.
Once you’ve downloaded the ReachNow app and signed up, you can search for nearby vehicles in the designated area, unlock the car via the mobile app (a member key card to unlock cars in the future is mailed to you), and drop it off at any legal parking space on the street. The standard rate is 49 cents per minute while driving and 30 cents per minute while parked (if you’re making multiple trips), and those prices includes insurance, fuel, parking, taxes and fees. (For comparison, Car2Go’s one-time registration rate is $35 and with a rate of 41 cents per minute while driving.)
Related: Is it Possible to Live Car Free in Seattle?
Currently, ReachNow’s designated area covers downtown up to N 105th Street and Northgate Way, south to S Lander Street and west to 15th Avenue W. Looks like West Seattle and Magnolia are left out at the moment, though the company says it will extend the designated area in the coming months. In the next quarter, it will begin offering vehicles at Sea-Tac airport.
ReachNow has upped the ante with its enhanced mobility services, such as a car delivery service, longer rental times, vehicles at Sea-Tac, a chauffeur service and the ability to rent your personal MINI Cooper, a perk that’s intended to offset the cost of car ownership.
ReachNow will set up its headquarters in Belltown and plans to expand its service to three additional cities this year, with a goal of expanding to a total of 10 U.S. cities.
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