ReachNow was a carsharing service operated by BMW Group in Seattle, Portland, and Brooklyn. It launched in 2016 and it shut down its services in Seattle and Portland on July 17, 2019. It used a mobile app for car reservations and operated a fleet of over 1,000 vehicles.[1] It was one of three car-sharing services in the city of Seattle, competing with car2go and Zipcar. ReachNow was similar to another BMW Group service DriveNow, but was focused on North American cities starting with Seattle. Unlike DriveNow which is a joint-venture with Sixt, ReachNow is a fully owned BMW subsidiary, with RideCell rather than Sixt, providing the technology platform.[2]
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.jpg) A BMW i3 in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood during ReachNow testing. | |
| Company type | Public (subsidiary) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Car rental |
| Founded | April 8, 2016 |
| Defunct | July 17, 2019 |
| Successor | DriveNow |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 1 |
Key people | Steve Banfield (Chief Executive Officer) |
| Services | Carsharing |
| Owner | BMW Group |
| Parent | BMW |
| Website | www |
History
editIt launched in April 2016 with 370 vehicles.[3] In May 2016, Steve Banfield was named Chief Executive Officer and the company declared that they had reached 13,000 registered members; Car2Go, the main competitor to ReachNow in Seattle, stated they had 77,000 members at the time.[4]
In December, ReachNow announced that it would add 180 cars to its fleet in Seattle, bringing the total to 700, and lowered its minimum age requirement to 18 years old.[5] The company is also expanding its operations to include four new Mobility Services: Reserve, Share, Fleet Solutions and a ridesharing company, ReachNow Ride, to compete with Uber and Lyft.[6]
In March 2018, BMW and Daimler announced that their carsharing services, ReachNow and Car2go, would merge into a combined entity that would be jointly operated.[7]
BMW cancelled ReachNow Ride in May 2019 and on July 17, 2019, announced that it would cancel all of its services in Seattle and Portland effective immediately.[8]
Service area
editReachNow initially launched in April 2016 serving a limited area of the city of Seattle, but expanded several times to eventually encompass the entire city by December.[9] ReachNow also expanded to serve the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in August 2016.[10]
ReachNow expanded to Portland, Oregon, on September 19, 2016,[11] and parts of Brooklyn, New York in November.[12] Service in Brooklyn was suspended due to maintenance issues.[13]
Fleet
editReachNow maintained a fleet of 700 vehicles in Seattle, 360 in Portland and 260 in Brooklyn. Models included the BMW 328xi and BMW 330xi sedan, the electric i3, the Mini Cooper (in both 2-door and 4-door configurations), and the Mini Clubman.[1][14] In December 2016, ReachNow added the BMW X1 to its fleet.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions". ReachNow. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
- ^ "BMW Gives Car-Sharing in U.S. Another Shot With a New Name". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
- ^ Lerman, Rachel (April 8, 2016). "BMW wants to share in Seattle's car-sharing boom". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
- ^ Lerman, Rachel (May 9, 2016). "BMW car-sharing reaches 13,000 in Seattle, names new CEO". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
- ^ Stewart, Ashley (December 6, 2016). "BMW's ReachNow has nearly as many Seattle cars as Car2Go". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
- ^ Soper, Taylor (November 15, 2016). "BMW confirms plan to launch Uber and Lyft rival in Seattle, expands ReachNow car-sharing to Brooklyn". GeekWire. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- ^ Lerman, Rachel (March 28, 2018). "ReachNow, Car2Go to merge in Seattle and elsewhere". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^ Groover, Heidi (July 17, 2019). "ReachNow shutters car-rental and ride-hailing services in Seattle, Portland". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^ a b Lerman, Rachel (December 6, 2016). "ReachNow expands to all of Seattle, adds SUVs". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- ^ Lerman, Rachel (August 9, 2016). "BMW expands car-sharing service to Sea-Tac". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
- ^ Njus, Elliot (August 2, 2016). "BMW to challenge Car2Go with its own Portland car-sharing service". The Oregonian. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- ^ Campbell, Kyle (December 9, 2016). "BMW ReachNow starts private fleet for two Manhattan apartments". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- ^ Soper, Taylor (December 18, 2016). "BMW's ReachNow service suspended in Brooklyn shortly after launching". GeekWire. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- ^ Lerman, Rachel (June 28, 2016). "BMW's car-sharing service rolls into more Seattle neighborhoods". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 11, 2016.