According to a new research report by IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of users of carsharing services worldwide is forecasted to grow from 50,4-million people in 2018 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35,1% to reach 227,1-million people in 2023.

Berg Insight forecasts that the number of cars used for carsharing services will grow at a CAGR of 29,2% from 332 000 at the end of 2018 to 1,2-million at the end of 2023.

Carsharing is one of many car-based mobility services that have become available for people that want to complement other modes of transportation with car-based mobility occasionally.

Examples of other car-based mobility services include traditional car rental, carpooling, ridesharing, taxi and ridesourcing services.

Carsharing is a decentralised car rental service focusing on short term rentals. CarSharing organisations (CSOs) offer members access to a fleet of shared cars 24/7 from unattended self-service locations. Usage is billed by the minute/hour and by distance driven, with rates that include fuel, insurance and maintenance.

Today, most CSOs use station-based networks with roundtrip rental. This operational model requires members to return a vehicle to the same designated station from which it was accessed.

Some CSOs have also started to offer one-way carsharing that enables users to return the car to any station operated by the CSO.

Another model that is rapidly gaining in popularity is free floating carsharing, which enables members to pick up and drop off cars anywhere within a designated area. Leading vendors of hardware and software platforms enabling carsharing services include INVERS, Convadis, Omoove, Wunder Mobility, OTA Keys, Vulog, Ridecell, Targa Telematics and Mobility Tech Green.

Several carsharing technology vendors are also targeting the emerging corporate carsharing market which can be used by corporations to increase corporate car pool availability and reduce mobility costs.

Carsharing services are offered by specialist carsharing companies, car rental companies, carmakers, as well as other players such as public transport operators.

“During the past year, carmakers have been very active and launched new carsharing services,” says Martin Svegander, IoT analyst at Berg Insight.