Karshare Blog

Our referrals feature is now live, which means: 💷 Great benefits for your family and friends, who come on board! 💰 Rewards for you as a Karshare member! 🌍 A greener planet! 🙌 More local community support!

Remote working isn’t going anywhere, so more and more people are adding their vehicles to Karshare to earn extra income whenever they are not in use. With staycations on the rise and summer vacation just around the corner, now is the perfect time to give your car listing a spring clean with our helpful tips and tricks to maximise those rentals.

Meet Zoheil Khaleqi, Karshare's Quality Assurance & Release Manager. He's taken the time to answer 20 quick-fire questions, so you can learn more about Team Karshare and what makes us tick.

Whilst we are working hard on delivering some of the amazing new features on our platform (yes, Referrals are coming very soon!), let me share with you a couple of great improvements we have recently made for you, our car owners. They have not made it to our public roadmap, but are still so beneficial that we decided to shout about them!

Drive-in cinemas have grown in popularity in the UK over the last few years, with Covid-19 causing a massive boost in sales as people gravitated towards the outdoor events that still allowed them to maintain their personal space. And it looks like the trend isn’t going anywhere. We have rounded up some of the most exciting drive-in events coming to Bristol and beyond, so you can park up and sit back without having to leave your car!

Spring is finally here to remind us of new beginnings! I hope you are all enjoying the warming weather and the blossoming trees outside. What better season to hit the roads and go on an adventure? With life gradually opening back up again, there are so many opportunities out there! To honour the spirit of spring, I present to you (*drumroll*) the Karshare roadmap! This is our perpetual Work In Progress space, where you can find evolving, valuable information about our platform and where we are headed. It's our way of showing you what we're working on so you can be a part of the evolution of Karshare, every step of the way. Let me walk you through it (it's a roadmap, after all)...

It finally feels like the world is opening up again. From today, restrictions are easing to allow non-essential shops, salons, outdoor hospitality venues and gyms to reopen. The new rules also mean that self-contained accommodation like holiday cabins, Airbnbs or camping sites can open to allow for overnight stays – aka staycations! Lucky for you, dear reader, there’s no better place to safely enjoy the new regulations than Bristol, with its wealth of culture, shopping, eateries and stunning scenery.

We're back with another edition of "20 Questions with...", your chance to get to know Team Karshare in intimate detail, find out their hopes and dreams and learn more about what makes this company so special. Today's spotlight is on Sam Howard, our Engineer & Cloud Architect. Find out more about what makes him tick below.

Well, it looks like international travel is off the cards for the foreseeable future. But fear not – the UK has a whole range of enviable destinations that can make for the perfect holiday, whether you’re looking for a tanning session at the beach or a gruelling hike up Snowdon. And the best bit is that you can get everything you need for the perfect staycation simply by unlocking your phone. We’ve put together our favourite apps to make your trip as smooth as possible. Ditch the passport and get yourself behind the wheel instead: adventure awaits.

Hey there, I'm Vessy from the Product team at Karshare! I'll be running this new section of our blog, discussing all things product. Here you can read about all our new features, how and what we prioritise and of course hear stories of what's going on behind the scenes – where we have fun and deal with challenges at the same time. I'll walk you through the magic of how a customer insight translates into a new feature and so much more... so watch this space!

The German word “Fernweh” might just be the perfect way to describe what we’re all feeling right now: an aching for the far. Longing to escape the mundanity of lockdown life, we’ve binged through pretty much everything Netflix has to offer, but these hidden gems might just hit the spot and fulfil your wanderlust as we count down the days until adventure-time.

Spring is well and truly in the air – and there’s nothing that says “new year new me” quite like a good old spring clean. And what better way to prepare for the end of lockdown than by giving your car a once-over? Get ready for those road trips and staycations pencilled in your diary – or present your car beautifully for the renters taking it for a spin. After exploring environmentally friendly ways of driving your car, we have now put together 7 car cleaning solutions that keep the planet in mind – and are bound to leave your vehicle sparkling!

Think back to the last time you wanted to buy something. The journey you followed probably looked a little like this: You Googled it, you ordered it, you clicked next day delivery – or better yet – same-day delivery, and then you eagerly awaited it. We’re wired to expect things now. Our expectation for instant gratification is the norm, rather than the exception. In fact, if we’re asked to wait 3-5 business days for something to arrive, we’re mildly outraged.

From 12 April onwards, lockdown restrictions will ease to allow for the reopening of zoos, theme parks and holiday lets for individual households. We have taken a look at some of the best self-contained accommodations and nearby activities for our community in Bristol so you can finally put the word “holiday” in that empty diary of yours. It’s roadmap time!

To celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, we wanted to shout about one thing we all love here at Karshare: sharing! By making better use of resources and redistributing assets across various sectors, the sharing economy is redefining the notion of ownership. To build a more sustainable world, we know we have to become increasingly generous with our concept of sharing – from homes to cars to workspaces to household items. Through sharing, we can achieve more with less. We asked some of the Karshare team to tell us about their favourite sharing ideas – besides car sharing, of course!

First things first: what is hypermiling? Hypermiling or ‘eco-driving’ is a form of driving that maximises fuel efficiency. It’s all about getting the most bang for your buck: by employing various energy-efficient techniques to minimise fuel consumption, you can get more miles out of your car and reduce emissions at the same time. These methods are often used with electric vehicles where drivers want to get the maximum out of their battery and exceed their vehicle manufacturers’ stated efficiency. We have put together 10 top tips that will help drive more fuel efficiently in 2021 while saving money – and the planet.

The Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, took time to address Karshare’s car sharing initiative in his first Question Time of 2021, on Facebook Live. Ahead of the Q&A, Karshare submitted a question via Twitter, asking how car sharing might fit into Bristol’s green transport plans and reiterating the fact that for every 1 car shared, we can take 14 off the road, thus drastically reducing emissions.

One of the most difficult aspects of living through this pandemic has been not being able to support our local favourites who formed such a huge part of everyday life back when the world looked a bit different. Luckily, thanks to Zoom and some ingenious thinking, a lot of Bristol’s independent scene has made the move online, shifting their offer to suit our lockdown lives. To help you continue supporting your locals, we have listed some of our favourite at-home experiences, brought to you by the best of Bristol.

Driver telematics are a key ingredient in Karshare’s vision for a more sustainable, shared future. Inbuilt within our KarshareGo technology, they are a core component of our security measures and a helpful tool in ensuring our insurance costs can stay as low as possible. KarshareGo is our keyless technology which is installed in every car on our platform. It’s a small black module attached to the OBD-II port (on-board diagnostics), which allows renters to securely unlock their chosen car through the Karshare app using facial recognition. This ensures that there is no need for a face-to-face key swap between owner and renter as the renter’s phone effectively becomes the car key, connected to the module within the vehicle. By guaranteeing that every vehicle is equipped with KarshareGo, renters can instantly book a car nearby and be on their way in minutes.

2020 forced us to look at our income with a fresh pair of eyes – from furlough schemes to redundancies, it has not been easy navigating the new and uncertain world of work we find ourselves in. Luckily, the sharing economy is here to help. By utilising the assets and skills you already possess, you can create additional income streams in 2021 thanks to some very handy apps.

We’re coming up to our first weekend in Lockdown 3 and with nowhere to go and temperatures inching close to zero, we’ll be plonking ourselves on the sofa for some back-to-back binge-watching. If your plans are looking similar, check out our list of hard-hitting, truth-talking, inspirational movies and documentaries about the environment to get you through lockdown this month.

Karshare has hit its £1million fundraising target through its equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs and is now overfunding. With over 440 investors to date and the current total standing over £1.3 million, the campaign is not due to close until mid-January.

Protecting the environment is at the heart of what we do here at Karshare. Now that 2020 is finally behind us, we have taken a look at some of the ways in which everyone can live a little more sustainably and make a positive difference in the pursuit of net zero emissions and combating climate change.

In a year when it has been nearly impossible to see friends and family, we know just how important the festive season is going to be for everyone. We want to make it as easy and safe as possible for you to rent a car and visit loved ones for Christmas. Our vehicles are available to rent 24/7 during the holidays and our keyless technology means you don’t have to worry about arranging a drop-off with the car owner – it all takes place through our App.

At Karshare, we pride ourselves on operating 24/7, 365 days a year, so our customers can have access to nearby vehicles whenever they need one. This means that we will be operating as usual during the Christmas period – ensuring that your travel plans are taken care of and that the Karshare team is on standby at all times, ready to help. Traditional car rental companies operate on a standard 8am – 5pm schedule and are often closed on Sundays. Car sharing can therefore be especially beneficial during the holiday season as our vehicles are available to rent at any point in the day, every day of the week.

Julian Burr is a 42 year old DJ from Hanham in Bristol. Married with four children, he owns a Vauxhall Vivaro van, which he has been renting out as part of Karshare’s community car sharing scheme. “I first heard about Karshare through a Facebook advert”, he told us. “In non-Covid times, I operate a DJ business and this has had to stop since the first lockdown in March. My van has been redundant since then and Karshare was a great opportunity to make some income from it, instead of it sitting idle.” Julian and his family have two other vehicles which they use to get around in Bristol, but the van “is not being used for anything right now.”

Part 2 of our Cared for by Karshare series sees us checking in with Julie Dempster, Founding Director of Bristol Outreach Services for the Homeless (BOSH), a charity in Bristol. Mum of two and grandmother to two gorgeous grandchildren, Julie has lived in Bristol for around five and a half years. BOSH have been working with Karshare to borrow a van throughout the pandemic to support their services across the city.

Following the government’s recent announcement that Bristol will enter into Tier 3 from 2 Dec, we look at the implications this has on the travel sector and what renters are still able to do under new restrictions. In Bristol, which has now been placed on very high alert, essential travel still includes your commute to work, education or places of worship as well as journeys to receive medical treatment or attend caring responsibilities. Guidelines also state that you can travel to overnight stays if they are required for work or form stop-offs as part of a longer journey.

As part of our Cared for by Karshare series, we spoke to Esther, the Project Coordinator at Caring in Bristol. Her work primarily focuses on their food aid service ‘Cheers Drive’, running the day to day logistics and working alongside their group of amazing volunteers. Caring in Bristol have been making use of a Karshare van throughout the pandemic to support their services across the city.

Lisa, 25 years old, lives with her boyfriend in Redland, Bristol and their sausage dog Florence. They moved in October 2019 from Oxford as they have family in the area and spent a lot of time here. With an Audi A1 on a finance plan and a walking commute to work Lisa decided to keep her car as she likes the independence it brings her, so they are a two-car household.

When the pandemic struck the UK, Karshare asked local communities in Bristol to donate their cars to NHS, frontline and key workers so they could get to work safely. Public transport was less frequent and unreliable, so having immediate access to a car made their life and journeys easier.

Karshare is thrilled to be supporting four adventurous women taking on the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge next month! Lorna, Phoebe, Sarah and Sofia aim to be the first team to complete the race in an environmentally-friendly way, raising awareness of the pollution of our waters. Based in Bristol, the four gulls came together from France, Uruguay, Scotland and Cornwall to share their love of adventure and passion for sustainability.

The ‘sharing economy’ is probably a term you’ve come across over the last few years when talking about companies like Airbnb, Uber, WeWork, JustPark, TaskRabbit etc. Maybe you’ve heard it referred to as the access economy or gig economy. Some even call it the peer-to-peer economy. Whatever you choose to go with, the premise of what makes a business a part of the sharing economy is simple and centres on the concept of resource distribution as opposed to resource creation. Airbnb doesn’t build new homes, it allows you to stay in someone else’s. Uber doesn’t make taxi cars, it enables drivers to turn their already-existing cars into one.

With the second lockdown of 2020 upon us, anxiety around travel and transport is on the rise. The UK government has made it clear that this time round, restrictions on travel still permit and encourage us to drive to work or education, visit those in our support or childcare bubbles, attend medical appointments, buy goods and services from retailers and travel to outdoor spaces for exercise.