The concept of not having your own car seems strange to me. Because a car is much more than just a means of transport from A to B. For me, a car is a living space. With the contents of my trunk I would surely survive well for two weeks without contact with the outside world, it is a mixture of a wardrobe and a storage room. What if I no longer had constant access to the things that I would like to need spontaneously? Camera equipment, tools, a second set of clothes? I really couldn't imagine it.
It was just right that car2go - Market leader of the new generation of car sharing, introduced a new generation of telematics and offered it to me for a test in Vienna. Because the situation is different if you come to a foreign city. About by plane. The airport is usually far out of town, you have to drag your suitcase to the next platform, fight with unknown ticket machines, and then after the third station in the completely overcrowded and stuffy train find that you are going in the wrong direction. The same applies to the taxi. Grumpy drivers, inhuman driving style and in addition these incomparably sweaty synthetic leather upholstery, on which every university clinic would be delighted to catalog the bacterial cultures celebrating there.
The solution? A rental car. But not in the classic sense, but: free-floating. A fine new German word, which means nothing other than: rent, drive, park, forget. No bureaucracy, no signatures, no haggling over the tank level and time-consuming return procedure. Instead, simply use the app to search for a car - at the airport they are usually in the VIP car parks near the terminal, the code on the vehicle is typed on the cell phone and the car unlocks.
Your own (if only temporary) car in a foreign city has its charm. Your own air conditioning temperature, your own music, your own driving style - wonderful. Especially the car2go-Smarts are quite generously equipped and in terms of infotainment with a large navigation system, Bluetooth hands-free speaker and sound system are at the cutting edge.
In terms of mileage, too, the small forts of the old series - the new models are now gradually moving in, and the first test fleet is already in Hamburg - is quite happy. Of course, the rental car bonus counts here, after all, the rented car is always the fastest, but the robust, lively three-cylinder turbos with the sequential gearbox are just wonderful for inner-city street surfing. You can avoid the traffic jam on the feeder motorway by taking a shortcut through the suburbs; the blocked Danube bridge is bypassed by a detour through the container terminal at the harbor. At the end you park directly at the Belvedere, take out the suitcase, put the key in the holder, the steering wheel and tap on the "End rental" app. The Smart flashes happily and the app notes: Rental price € 14,90. For an hour's drive, with no hidden costs. The local train would have cost ten, the Express would have been more expensive. Not to mention the taxi. From driving fun anyway. So car sharing can be something for car lovers.