BMW Launches DriveNow Car Sharing Program

BMW has partnered with rental car company Sixt for its own car sharing service called DriveNow. The two German companies will be providing a "premium" car sharing service with a fleet of BMW's sub brand BMW i and MINI vehicles. The service is open to all drivers, but if you're between 18 and 21 you'll have to take an extra driving safety test before you can use a use a car.

Using the service is quite simple as all you'll need is a chip that will be attached to your driver's license with a sticker, no need for keys with DriveNow. You can locate a DriveNow vehicle with either a mobile phone app or a website and you unlock the vehicle by waving your license over the sensor. Inside a Dell Streak is attached to dashboard and you will enter your PIN number to verify yourself. Once all that's done you can start the car and start driving.

Prices are fixed and users begin with a start-off fee of €29 and for each minute of use it'll cost you 29 cents. If you choose a MINI Cooper fees are capped at €14.90 an hour, you can also hold any car for 10 cents per hour when you aren't driving. All BMW cars will be the 1 series to start out. You can drop off the car wherever you'd like, as long as it's within the city, and the parking within the city is free. It's a pretty cool way of car sharing and the cars certainly are premium compared to many other car sharing services we've seen.

The program will start in Munich with 300 BMW and MINI vehicles, and will expand to Berlin with 500 vehicles. DriveNow is hoping that no user will be more than 500 meters from a hire car. BMW wants to expand to other cities in Europe and eventually other continents, with the goal of having one million DriveNow members by 2020.

[via AutoExpress]