ILC ARTICLE

Car Club membership creating multiple benefits

29th April 2022

New research has found that a third of car owners who have joined a car club have subsequently got rid of at least one vehicle.

The survey of more than 4,000 Enterprise Car Club members in the UK was carried out by shared transport charity CoMoUK.

It found that 68% of the vehicles disposed of were at least five years old, which has led to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, joining the Enterprise Car Club also resulted in a greater use of electric vehicles and public transport.

Among other findings, 30% of respondents said they had since reduced private car journeys, 18% said they walked more and 10% cycled more frequently.

The reasons for joining the car club varied, with 43% saying flexible use of a car suited their lifestyle, 23% said they wanted a second car as back-up, 22% cited reduced costs as the motivating factor while 19% wanted to reduce their environmental impact.

Enterprise Car Club Managing Director Dan Gursel said, “Expanding the number of car club vehicles can help local authorities to reduce the number of miles people travel by car and also the number of vehicles they own. It could be a very useful ally for those local authorities introducing low-emission or clean air zones, especially as renting from a car club is also a cost-effective and convenient way for people to try out EV motoring.

“Expanding car club availability in communities across the UK could help to ease the growing cost of living pressure that’s affecting so many people. This is because the cost of fuel is included and users only pay for the number of miles they have driven. The cars come with a fuel card if the driver needs to top up on fuel.”