Finding the right car share company for you

Four Vancouver car share options

Vancouver is considered a world leader when it comes to car share services. Those are the cars that you rent by the hour or even the minute. However, now that we have so many choices, how do you know which one is best?

McLaughlin On Your Side examined Vancouver’s four cars share services – Modo, Zipcar, Car2Go and Evo. We looked at their fleets, their rates, insurance, parking, accessibility and other factors and we talked to users. Based on our analysis we’ve come up with our best recommendations.

All the car shares provide remote booking and easy access. All come with 200 km included in the booking. All include insurance and gas and all can park anywhere in permitted areas.

However, they differ on their intended purpose. Evo and Car2Go are both designed for one way trips. They are best used for short trips and even charge by the minute.

“It usually ends up being a little cheaper than taking a cab downtown,” Car2Go customer Julia Niendorf told us.

Modo and Zipcar are designed for roundtrips, meaning you have to return the vehicle to their home locations. Both companies allow you to take the vehicle across the border but you can’t do that with Evo and Car2Go.

Also the day rates encourage different types of use. Car2Go costs $84.99 a day, EVO $89.99 a day, Modo is $64 a day and Zipcar is $76 a day.

By the hour Evo and Car2Go have similar pricing plans. Evo charges $14 an hour while Car2Go charges $14.99 an hour. Both companies charge .41 a minute. So, if you expect your trip to last less than 18 minutes you can beat the hourly rates of Modo and Zipcar.

Modo’s hourly rate is $8 while Zipcar starts at $7.75 an hour and goes higher, depending on the type of vehicle and demand. We saw a Zipcar rate for a Corolla during a week day for $7.75 an hour and an Audi at $13.25 an hour.

Modo had a simpler pricing plan.

Modo charges less for registration, $10, compared to Zipcar’s $25 registration fee. Modo charges less per kilometer if you go over the 200 km limit - $.25 versus Zipcar’s $.30.

Modo has more than 420 vehicles compared to Zipcar’s 200. However, Zipcar’s vehicles may be newer and offer more variety.

Car2Go and Evo both charge $35 for registration and $.45 km over the 200 km limit.

As for fleet size, Car2Go has 1,250 Smart cars. Evo has 400 Prius Hybrids. However, Evo has racks for bikes and skis, Bluetooth and has more space than the ‘Smart fortwo.’ Car2Go also charges a $7.50 surcharge for a one way trip to YVR.

Insurance coverage for all the companies would cover you but protection is less with Zipcar. Its liability coverage was the lowest at $1 million compared to $3 to $5 million for the others. Car2Go offered the lowest deductible - $250. The deductible will drop to 0 if you take 91 or more trips a year.

After crunching the numbers, we found that based on value for money spent, Evo would be the best choice for one way trips and Modo would be our top pick for round trips.