Some manufacturers see on-demand rental as replacing ownership in the future, writes NEIL BRISCOE
WE’VE BEEN TOLD for years that we need to throw off the shackles of our old Irish home-owning mentality and get with the groovy European lifetime rental approach. Why waste money on huge mortgages and deposits when you can waltz into a comfy, rented apartment and waltz out again whenever takes your fancy?
It’s a hard concept to stomach, certainly for the die-hard “mo chón, mo chón” traditionalists among us, and even with mortgages scarcer on the ground than unicorn foals, people are still talking of the “rental trap” rather than seeing renting as a good thing.
How about cars? There are car makers out there, BMW and Peugeot chief among them, that see constant, on-demand rental as the future of owning a car.
BMW is currently piloting its DriveNow scheme, which is being operated in concert with car rental firm Sixt, with 300 cars parked at strategic locations across Munich.
Sign up for the scheme, take your smartphone and your ID-chipped German drivers’ licence with you, and you can grab the Mini, 1-Series or 3-Series of your choice.
It’s like Dublin Bikes, but with cars. Drop it off when you’re finished and you’re charged by the minute. It’s like owning a BMW without actually having to own a BMW.
Peugeot’s Mu scheme, currently being piloted in the UK and in France, is a little more complicated. You pay regularly into the scheme and accrue points. You can then spend those points on using a vehicle of your choice.
But could such a scheme work in Ireland? Jeff Aherne, from industry watchers Cartell.ie, isn’t so sure.
“One of the reasons it may not work here is insurance. In Germany, they allow 18-20 year olds to drive these cars, and I just can’t see an 18 year old being allowed to drive away in a 1-Series or a Mini Cooper here.
“The other thing that interests me is the keyless technology and using the chip in the drivers’ licence.
“Your smartphone and the ID chip in your licence allow you to access the vehicle, but theft techniques these days are becoming so ‘good’ that with keyless entry, is there a time that we’ll see multiple thefts of these vehicles? If they break the technology once, they could be driving away with lots of vehicles.”
As of yet, there are no plans for either BMW or Peugeot to introduce the schemes here, and given probable resistance, and issues we’d have in actually getting to the cars (poor public transport, remember), neither are likely to appear here. But still, would you?
