Car sharing, self service, or on-demand rental technology has made a splash in the rental car industry, but still hasn’t really taken off. Why? Because most solutions get it wrong. Here are the top issues –
1. Reliability
To date, most car sharing rental technologies depend on GPS technology to identify when a vehicle is picked up and when it has returned. The problem is that GPS often has trouble in cities, which paradoxically is where most self service operations are based. Self service technologies also rely on cellular communications, which can be flaky, especially for devices usually hidden under the dashboard. This is an especially major reliability problem if you are depending on cellular for critical functions like locking or unlocking a vehicle.
Shameless plug – JumpDrive works perfectly without depending on GPS or cellular communications.
2. Security
With self service rentals, customers rent a vehicle without speaking to or seeing an agent – how do you know the customer is who they say they are? Most companies can mitigate this by restricting automated rentals to customers who are a “member”, with a driver’s license, insurance, and credit card already on file. Companies that use technology to vet identification documents also help.
However, the biggest security is leaving the vehicle’s keys inside the vehicle itself. Many self service rental technologies use a starter interrupt which is enabled and disabled by a cellular connection, a solution commonly used by the “buy here pay here” industry. Unfortunately, breaking a window, disabling the starter interrupt (and unplugging the cellular connection), and driving off with the keys takes less than 3 minutes.
3. Critical Features
Automated car rental technologies need to provide the following:
- Real-time inventory at each location
- Timestamp of vehicle pickup and return
- Precise Fuel level
- Odometer
- Vehicle damage indicator
- Check Engine Light status (CEL or MIL)
- Key management
Most car sharing technologies are missing precise fuel level and odometer, mostly because it takes lots of engineering effort and early access to new vehicles.
4. Cost
Car sharing technologies vary widely in cost, depending largely on how it handles key management – A) the customer can pick up the key from a valet attendant, B) a kiosk or key machine can dispense the vehicle key, and C) the customer can use his/her smartphone to unlock the vehicle, with the key already inside the vehicle.
Option A is the cheapest of the 3, the keys are secure, but requires you to deal exclusively with valet garages that are manned 24 hours a day. Option B is also inexpensive, the keys are secure, but requires a fixed location with access to power and a place to mount a key machine or kiosk. Option C is the most expensive by far, and presents the biggest security risk, but is easiest for the customer (if they have cellular service in the garage / parking lot and a charged smartphone).
GPS/Cellular + ValetGPS/Cellular + Smartphone UnlockJumpDrive + Key Machine
| Option A | Option B | Option C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costs | |||
| Hardware | $ 120 | $ 500 | $ 50 |
| Installation | $ 75 | ||
| Uninstallation | $ 50 | ||
| Lot Hardware & Installation | $ 1,500 | $ 1,750 | |
| Monthly Fee (per Vehicle) | $ 15 | $ 20 | $ 6 |
| 5 Year Cost (New vehicle every year) | |||
| # Vehicles | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Total Initial and Installation Costs | $ 3,900 | $ 22,500 | $ 2,750 |
| Total Monthly Costs | $ 18,000 | $ 24,000 | $ 7,200 |
| Total 5 Year Cost | $ 21,900 | $ 46,500 | $ 9,950 |
| 5 Year Return on Investment | 64% | -23% | 262% |
| Reliability Issues | GPS is unreliable in cities, cellular is unreliable in some garages | GPS is unreliable in cities, cellular is unreliable in some garages, user needs smartphone and cellular coverage | |
| Technical Limitations | User needs smartphone with cellular coverage at garage / lot | Lot requires power, and installation of key machine | |
| Security Issues | Theft issue – keys are stored in vehicle, starter interrupt can be disabled in 2 minutes |
Conclusion
We designed JumpDrive to be the most secure, reliable, fully featured, and cost effective solution for station to station car sharing. To learn more about our complete solution or perhaps even how we can supplement your existing or planned solution, let us know.
This article was written by JumpDrive founder, Sachin Chaudhry.