Edinburgh’s City Car Club is going from strength to strength with the launch of five new cars in the city.
This brings the total number of City Cars in Edinburgh to 90 and the Club has plans to increase this to over 100 in coming months to keep up with demand.
The cars were launched last week at new locations across Edinburgh: Ogilvie Terrace, West Bryson Road, both EH11, McDonald Road EH7, Abercromby Place, EH3 and McEwan Square, both EH3. The car at McEwan Square is located onsite at the Springside residential development, where due to an agreement between City Car Club and developers AMA, all residents are entitled to free membership.
The cars are parked in designated car club bays and can be booked for use at any time of the day or night, either at a moment’s notice or in advance via the City Car Club website. Members can book the cars for as little as half an hour, a day or as long as they need.
The expansion of the Club was necessary to meet demand from the ever-growing membership which has now risen to approaching 3500, an increase of almost 90% compared to the same time last year.
James Finlayson, Managing Director of City Car Club explains: “Demand and uptake of our car club service in Edinburgh is at an all time high so these new cars and locations will make the service even more accessible to both residents and businesses across the city. It won’t be long before Edinburgh has its 100th car club car.”
The car club can work out over £1,800 cheaper than running your own car. According to AA and thisismoney.co.uk, the total cost of running a Vauxhall Corsa bought for £4,000 and doing 4,000 miles a year is £2,902. This includes depreciation, insurance, road tax, servicing and maintenance, insurance, breakdown insurance, and parking permits. A City Car Club car doing the same mileage costs just £1,065. Total saving £1,837.
The car club is very easy to use. Bookings can be made directly from the cars at a moments notice, on the internet at www.citycarclub.co.uk or by phone on 0845 330 1234 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 0845 330 1234 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Cars are parked in designated parking bays and once booked, members gain access with their smart enabled, personal membership card (keyless access). Their PIN is entered into the in-car computer and then they can just drive away. Journeys made are itemised on a monthly statement.
And being a member of a car club is good for the environment. According to recent survey by Carplus(the UK governing body for car clubs) every City Car replaces 23 privately owned vehicles (each City Car is estimated to result in 14 private vehicles being sold, and a further 9 as a result of a deferred purchase.)
For the Edinburgh City Car Club fleet that means a reduction of over 2,000 cars off the streets.
