Free-floating electric carsharing-fleets in smart cities: The dawning of a post-private car era in urban environments?

• Empirical study on the free-floating carsharing-system car2go.
• Randomised controlled trial of different electrification-scenarios.
• Split-sample comparison of users having driven electric- vs. gasoline-car2go-cars.
• Having driven an electric-car2go increases the private car reduction willingness.
• Environmental gains through carsharing can be improved by targeted policies.

Free-floating carsharing-systems allowing users to start and end vehicle-rentals at any point in cities (e.g. using smartphones to locate available cars) are expanding internationally. This article reports on the private car reduction potential of car2go, the first free-floating carsharing-system, which was launched in Germany in 2009. A randomised controlled trial of different electrification-scenarios was incorporated into an online survey of car2go-users. The results indicated that the shown electrification-scenario (e.g. regional vs. green electricity) influenced the respondents’ car reduction willingness. An additional split-sample comparison of users having previously driven electric vs. gasoline car2go-cars showed that having driven an electric-car2go increased the willingness to forgo a private car purchase. Policymakers and carsharing-providers could use the findings to increase the environmental gains achieved by carsharing-systems.

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