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Curtis Gilbert

Car2Go becomes go-to car-sharing service in Minneapolis

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A Car2Go sits outside St. Paul City Hall
Car2Go has become dominant in Minneapolis.
Peter Cox | MPR News 2014

Less than two years after entering the Twin Cities market, Car2Go has become the dominant car-sharing service in Minneapolis.

A city report shows the company has more than 500 vehicles operating in Minneapolis — about 10 times as many as each of their competitors, ZipCar and HourCar.

Car-sharing companies allow customers to rent vehicles for a few minutes or a few hours. HourCar and ZipCar have designated parking spots around the city. Car2Go, with its fleet of tiny two-seat Smart Cars, allows users to drop vehicles off in just about any on-street parking space in Minneapolis or St. Paul. The rapidly growing company is now in 14 North American cities.

"I think that convenience is really what has fueled that success," said Brad Ducey, spokesperson with Car2Go, a subsidiary of German automaker Daimler AG, which makes the Smart Car.

HourCar is benefiting from the competition, said Manager Megan Hansen. HourCar is a non-profit organization that has operated in the Twin Cities for the last decade. It's doubled its fleet in the past two years to 65 cars across the Twin Cities.

Car2Go "made car sharing more visible, definitely," Hansen said. "You see their cars around. We think that's a good thing for the car sharing community that they're kind of increasing the options and the visibility."