After successful launches in Germany, the United States and Austria, car manufacturer BMW launches its pay as you go car service in London, England.
As fuel prices and bills go up but people remain as cash-strapped as ever, many of us are turning to public transport. In the capital of England, London, public transport is a cheap alternative to get around the city and with Underground train stations and plenty of bus routes, you can get almost anywhere in the area.
But what of the times when you need your own vehicle – not public transport – to complete your journey? Such as the times you have heavy bags to carry all around London or if you have an entire group of people who are travelling with you around the city?
This is why German car manufacture BMW has just launched a pay as you go car service in London to make travelling without public transport that much easier.
Call Drive Now, the scheme has been created in partnership with Sixt and allows people from all over the city to drive a car. How it works is that you place your driving license on the windscreen reader (it reads the chip within your license), then you enter the unique code that’s provided to you via the Drive Now app or website into the car’s dash and then it charges you for your usage by the minute.
Pricing sees you pay a one off fee of £29 and then it costs 32p per minute whilst driving and 19p a minute whilst parked. In the “business areas” of Hackney, Islington and Haringey parking is free.
While there are clear benefits to BMW’s Drive Now, there are also several downsides. Just over 200 cars are currently available but these will mostly be in those aforementioned business areas meaning that unless you pre-book a car, you may be hard pushed to find one when you need it. Furthermore, if you end your booking outside of the business areas you’ll have to pay all of the parking charges that rack up until the next customer comes along, which might not make this the best option for cash-strapped travellers.
Source: Drive Now
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