Rent or own – the balance sheet
- Three-quarters of London drivers say a car gives them independence
- Almost a third spend up to £500 on annual motor insurance yet over half only use their car for up to 1 hour a day
LOOK outside at all the shiny parked cars going nowhere and you’ll start to get an inkling of the price of mobility independence as Ubeeqo reveals shock costs for your own car freedom – for private use or at work.
It costs thousands to own and run a car, deemed essential in many areas with the decline of public transport, yet most stand idle for the majority of the day – while still burning money if not fuel.
So research from Ubeeqo, the innovative mobility app in which Europcar bought a majority interest last year, will make many take a fresh view of their motoring needs.
According to the latest research from Ubeeqo, Londoners are wasting thousands of pounds each year on buying, taxing, maintaining, insuring and parking cars they hardly use, as they do not want to solely rely on public transport.
And the same could be said of many cars used for business, with so much business done online and traffic gridlock fears combined with parking woes a travel deterrent.
Alternatives include joining a car-sharing rental ‘car club’ where you only pay for the time you use the car which generally has its own reserved parking bays.
Key findings of Ubeeqo’s London survey
- Over half of London drivers surveyed (59%) only use their car for between 1 and 7 hours a week – less than 1 hour a day
- 1 in 5 only drive between 25 and 50 miles a week – 7 miles a day
- 1 in 10 Londoners pay to park their car
- Over a quarter (28%) of London drivers spent between £5,000 and £10,000 on their current car; 32% spent between £10,000 and £20,000
- A third (35%) spend £300-500 per year on car insurance
Europcar has acquired majority shareholdings in two businesses that enhance its traditional short-term rental offering. The mobility and car sharing start-up Ubeeqo offers an innovative approach to business car-pooling, encompassing fleet and traveller management through its Bettercar proposition and enabling the introduction of electric vehicles in the pool fleet.
With a focus on key city locations a round the UK, E-Car Club is the UK’s first entirely electric pay-per-use car club, which will help public sector organisations focus on more sustainable transport solutions.
E-Car Club currently operates across a number of UK sites including London, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire, Fife and the Western Isles.
Benoit Chatelier, founder and CEO of Ubeeqo, said: “Londoners seem to be hostage to car ownership.
“Our research highlights the disproportionate cost when taking into account how infrequently they drive. On average, Londoners’ cars are used for just 4% of the time, the remainder of the time being parked outside their homes, or even worse, in a paid-for bay or garage.
“And these parked, unused cars are also clogging up the already congested London road network.”
According to the AA in 2014 it cost on average £1,913 to tax and insure a car that cost up to £13,000 when new, when also taking into account the capital cost, depreciation and breakdown cover.
For a Londoner using their car for just one hour a day this is a significant outlay even before they consider the cost of servicing, tyres and parking as well as repaying any credit they might have taken out to buy the car in the first place.
Benoit Chatelier added: “Aside from the initial purchase cost and servicing and maintenance, 35% of London car drivers are forking out between £300 and £500 per year on car insurance.
“One in 10 also pay to park their car when they’re at home, and all just for more independence than relying solely on public transport. This is probably why, while 27% said they couldn’t function without a car, 17% believe it is a financial burden.”
Ubeeqo believes the maths simply don’t add up for urban car ownership. But it also recognises that Londoners will only relinquish their cars if they believe they can retain the same independence.
The Ubeeqo mobility app delivers the independence of car ownership without the burden of the cost.
By joining the exclusive Ubeeqo app, Londoners can access a range of mobility services which they can match to their travel needs.
- Matcha – the company’s car use by the hour service means Londoners can pick up a car from one of many conveniently located bays across the Capital without any worry about finding or paying for a parking space. Matcha cars are available from £6 per hour, inclusive of fuel for the first 50 miles of each booking.
- Europcar – Ubeeqo users can also opt for conventional car rental for longer durations from Europcar, with a wide range of vehicle makes and models available from a network of more than 250 locations across the UK.
- Other transport services – Ubeeqo users in London will also soon be able to use the app to book a taxi or chauffeur drive service when they prefer to be driven rather than doing the driving. Access to a variety of public transport services will also be added over the coming months.
And it is all managed from the one platform – the Ubeeqo app – making it easy to organise, as well as manage the cost.
Londoners simply need to sign up to the Ubeeqo app, which is free of charge and with no usage commitment, to access the growing range of mobility services, with a mapping system showing availability around the capital for the service they need.
“Ubeeqo can help London drivers free themselves of the financial drain of car ownership with a unique range of urban mobility solutions”, concluded Chatelier. “Unlike other services that just offer one travel option, Ubeeqo combines a range of mobility solutions so that the traveller can arrange the best way to manage their journey, all from one app.”
