BMW expands ReachNow car sharing service in Seattle
After its initial Seattle launch in April, BMW is ready to beef up its ReachNow car sharing service. According to GeekWire, the automaker saw some 13,000 members sign up to use its fleet of 370 i3s, 328xis and Mini Coopers in the first month. To deal with the increased demand, BMW is rolling out another 150 vehicles in even more neighborhoods.
“The community has shown us they’re hungry for mobility options,” ReachNow CEO Steve Banfield said in a statement, “and, as a result, we’re expanding our services earlier than anticipated, to Southeast Seattle, West Seattle and Magnolia.”
ReachNow’s biggest competitor Car2Go has 750 Smart Fortwo vehicles and a slightly larger coverage map in Seattle, but as Banfield explained to GeekWire in May, BMW is looking to eventually expand beyond point-to-point, free-floating car sharing. The long term goal is to offer additional options like one-way airport pickups and dropoffs, concierge service where a BMW rep actually brings the car to you, a ride-hailing competitor to Lyft and Uber, and a way for BMW owners to put their personal vehicles on the network.
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