By Dave Fidlin | SDUN Reporter

San Diego is entering a new frontier this month with the implementation of an electric car-sharing program that has been touted as energy-conscious and eco-friendly.

Daimler, a German-based auto manufacturing company, announced plans in July to bring its car2go service to San Diego. The proposal had backing from local elected officials as well as the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).

The introduction of car2go comes on the heels of the recent installation of 1,500 charging stations for electrical vehicles throughout San Diego County.

With a formal rollout slated for Nov. 18, a fleet of 300 electric vehicles will be popping up throughout the city for car2go’s car-sharing program, including portions of Uptown. Some of the areas planned for coverage include Mission Hills, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, Golden Hill, North Park and South Park.

The company kicked off a membership campaign last week with an offer that includes a waiver of a one-time $35 membership fee and 30 free minutes. The offer is for a limited and undisclosed amount of time.

Rental fees are 35 cents per minute, $12.99 per hour or $65.99 daily. However, since car2go is promoted as a service for people looking to get from point A to B, the fee structure can been whittled down to the minute for those seeking limited use.

While car2go is the first large-scale foray into car-sharing in San Diego, the initiative actually has been in place for several years. Another company, Zipcar, has been offering traditional vehicles to college students through car-sharing within campuses, including the University of San Diego.

Car2go’s blue and white Smart Cars carry a 30-kilowatt lithium battery. According to company documents, the battery can go up to 84 miles before a recharge is necessary.

“Our goal is to be very forward-thinking while looking at a variety of eco initiatives,” said Katie Stafford, communications manager of Daimler’s North American division. “The way we’ve structured this allows the user to become much more concerned about the time and the way they use [a car2go vehicle].”

San Diego is the fifth city worldwide and the second within the U.S. to adopt the car2go program into its transportation blueprint. Other communities include Austin, Texas; Hamburg, Germany; Ulm, Germany; and Vancouver, Canada.

Stafford said car2go has been “very well received” in Austin, with about 50,000 memberships to date. The program is entering its third year in the city.

“Austin is a very progressive city in many of the same ways San Diego is,” Stafford said.

Dan Martin, manager of SANDAG’s iCommute Rideshare Challenge program, said car2go was a natural fit for the city and became a serious proposal in recent years as officials studied transit usage throughout the San Diego area.

“We had been looking at the benefits of car sharing and realized it made a whole lot of sense,” Martin said. Electric car sharing is meant to compliment, not replace, the variety of transit options available to San Diegans, Martin said.

“We’re really excited about this because it provides another option for folks who are only looking to use a vehicle occasionally,” Martin said. “We see this as another tool in the tool belt.”

A number of local organizations have lauded the addition of car2go to the city. Among them is Move San Diego, an advocacy group comprised of residents, environmentalists, bicyclists, pedestrians and transportation experts that routinely take up land-use policies in relation to sustainable transportation.

“I personally am really looking forward to using it,” said Elyse Lowe, executive director of Move San Diego. “This is a clean transportation alternative to the region. If I can use something that’s going to create zero emissions… I’m going to do it.”

The electric car sharing available through car2go is part of SANDAG’s Strategic Transportation Plan, an initiative outlining the virtues of sustainable transportation that is aimed at creating 35,600 jobs annually through 2050.

For more information, including a map of car2go’s coverage area during the initial rollout phase, visit sandiego.car2go.com.