Ford Launches Go!Drive Car-Sharing Program in London
Ford announced Tuesday that its London-based car-sharing service Go!Drive is officially available to the public. Go!Drive began as an experiment consistent with the Ford Smart Mobility plan, and if successful, could wind up proving to be both a useful tool for Londoners and a means for Ford to content with ride-sharing giants such as Lyft and Uber. Ford anticipates that the car-sharing industry will be worth more than $6 billion by 2020, based on information provided by the CarSharing Association in 2013.
“Our research tells us that car clubs currently are perceived as inflexible when it comes to booking, time slots and return locations. Features such as one-way journeys and pay-as-you-go extend the number of opportunities that drivers would want to car-share and could prove a game-changer,” said Alicia Agius, project lead, Go!Drive, Ford of Europe. “More drivers are finding Go!Drive to be a key service that can potentially empower people living in the city with its flexible approach.”
Beta-testers can sign up at www.Go-Drive.com, where they can earn a free £20 driving credit. Ford will accept more than 2,000 early adopters into the program, which will give them access to 50 cars spread across 20 locations throughout the city. In an effort to promote green driving, 25 vehicles from the Go!Drive fleet will be Focus Electric vehicles.
Ford is also exploring car-sharing with similar pilot programs in Germany; Bangalore, India; Dearborn, Michigan; and New York.
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