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Car clubs

What are they?

Car clubs are short-term car rental services that allow their members access to locally parked cars which can usually be rented by the hour or day. They offer an alternative model to private car ownership for individuals and businesses.

What are the benefits?

  • Saves you money Car clubs allow you to rent and use a car whenever you need one. This reduces the necessity to own one yourself, or to have a second vehicle in your household. A car club avoids the cost of tax, repairs, and other associated car ownership costs.
  • Helping the environment There are around 27 per cent fewer CO2 emissions for a car club car, than the average UK car (source: CoMoUK) the national charity for shared transport). Many car clubs have electric or hybrid vehicles available to hire, further reducing the carbon footprint of your journey.
  • Convenience Many car clubs run flexibly and allow you to book with short notice.

Local car clubs

We are working with the other Oxfordshire councils and a number of commercial car club operators to run a pilot of shared electric vehicles across the county.  These fully battery electric vehicles (with a range of 150-250 miles) are available for residents to use on a pay-per-use basis for as little as an hour and up to a few days. Costs can start from just £5 per hour plus a per-mile charge. 

They operate in Abingdon and Wantage. More info is on our EV car club news page.

Abingdon – In partnership with Co-Wheels.

Wantage – in partnership with Co-Wheels.

Peer-to-Peer car sharing

Peer-to-peer car sharing is where people offer privately-owned vehicles for rent to others via an online platform. This option can provide a solution to car sharing in areas where a car club is not operating. Hiyacar and Getaround are examples of carsharing platforms. 

Pic of a Hiya car

How to set up a community car club

Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK) (link) is the national charity dedicated to the social, economic and environmental benefits of shared transport. They have developed some guidance and can provide advice, support and share best practice on setting up a community car club.