Karshare Blog

From the £1.5 million pounds put back into owner's pockets, to the 2.4 million miles driven in shared cars, we take a look back at some key stats from the year 2022.

Monday 28th November marks the start of Bristol's Clean Air Zone (CAZ)! CAZs are put in place to improve air quality by reducing the pollution caused by older vehicles. Setting a £9 daily charge for vehicles that aren’t CAZ compliant is a way to encourage Bristolian car owners to either ditch their car, or upgrade to a lower emission vehicle.Bristol City Council estimates that the introduction of the zone will reduce the traffic travelling into the city by approximately 1,500 vehicles per day - helping to ease congestion as well as reducing air pollution.

Karshare rewards great drivers with Kudos Credits which can be used for discounts on future rentals. We monitor each renter's driving behaviour through driver telematics and score their driving style based on various factors. If they achieve a high driving score, Kudos Credits will be automatically added to their account and applied at the checkout for their next rental! Karshare is the only car sharing platform to incentivise great driving. Read on to find out more.

We want to make sharing your car with your community as easy and straightforward as possible, which is why we're constantly updating our product and always taking on board user feedback. Because of this, we're proud to announce that our new earnings and payouts section is now live! Have a read to find out more about the new product update and what this means for those with vehicles on the platform.

You may have heard that since September 1st, E10 fuel is being rolled out as the standard unleaded petrol sold at forecourts across Britain. The change to E10 petrol is said to have baffled a quarter of motorists, so we’re here to keep it simple and break it down for you, because petrol shouldn’t be complicated.

In 2014, I was in my 9th year of leading a well-established, 52 year-old and highly successful, private equity backed travel management company. Quite a mouthful. The business managed the travel of most lawyers in the UK, a good proportion of lawyers from the USA, and many other professional service individuals from the insurance and specialist finance sectors. The travel requirements were pretty standard. Business class, chauffeur to and from airport, and a 5* hotel accommodation – the Four Seasons in New York was especially popular. But in 2014 something fundamentally changed.

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!

What a start to 2021. With the lockdown announced on the 4th January it was definitely a case for a cautious beginning. On the same day, however, Brian Pinker, 82, became the first person (outside trials) to receive the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine. A much-needed boost for everyone, providing an important foundation of certainty and a route for things to get easier.

Transport for West Midlands has introduced a new service to their Mobility Credits Scheme, enabling Coventry locals to take part in peer-to-peer car sharing through Karshare. The Mobility Credits Scheme is an initiative to encourage people to scrap their old car in exchange for £3,000 of Mobility Credits to be used on public transport, e-scooters, bike hire, car rental and now peer-to-peer car sharing.

A few days ago, Bristol City Council approved Clean Air for Bristol’s business case for a Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which could be implemented from October 2021 and would mean that certain drivers may be required to pay a fee to enter a small area of central Bristol with their vehicles. It is estimated that over 71% of vehicles in Bristol are already compliant, so CAZ charges would only apply to a minority of drivers in the city. This should decrease over the years as Bristol’s population takes advantage of new financial incentives to switch to an electric vehicle or opt for different modes of transport, such as cycling or public transport.

There’s tonnes of exciting innovation going on in the world of ‘mobility’ right now. Never before have people had more choice and flexibility when it comes to how they get around. Car subscriptions and car sharing are leading this revolution; both offer a new, smarter way to ‘access’ rather than own a car to the growing segments of customers who want flexibility in how they drive.

From Angela Merkel to Xi Jinping to Greta Thunberg, global leaders from around the world gathered together virtually at the end of January to examine the principles, policies and partnerships needed to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and embark on creating a more inclusive and sustainable future in 2021. Hosted by the World Economic Forum, this Davos Agenda focused on 7 key themes: Fairer Economies, Tech for Good, Society & Future of Work, Better Business, Healthy Futures, Beyond Geopolitics and finally, How to Save 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.

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.

2020 has undoubtedly been a year like no other. For an early stage business like ourselves, it came with a wealth of challenges to tackle alongside opportunities to embrace. No doubt the pandemic has impacted our business, but we have emerged stronger with much to be grateful for and a lot to look forward to in 2021. Here’s a little peak at what we got up to...

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.

Karshare has launched a fundraising campaign on Seedrs, an equity crowdfunding platform enabling investors to invest in businesses they believe in and share in their success. We are thrilled to be giving people an opportunity to own a part of the Karshare business and help us grow.

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.

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.

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.

At Karshare, we are taking extra safety precautions to ensure that our community of car owners and car renters can use our service with confidence during the Covid-19 health crisis.

In late March, we launched a business we hadn’t planned, at a time not of our choosing, with no intention of generating a penny in revenue. One month on, the experience has been priceless.