Fayetteville car sharing business kicks off using low-speed electric vehicles

Service uses low-speed electric vehicles

Mikel Lolley of Sustainable Urban Mobility, or SUMO, shows some of the vehicles in its fleet of low-speed electric vehicles Tuesday at its office at 492 W. Lafayette St. in Fayetteville. SUMO hopes people will use the electric vehicles as one-way travel in its service area around Northwest Arkansas. The vehicles have a top speed of 25 mph.
Mikel Lolley of Sustainable Urban Mobility, or SUMO, shows some of the vehicles in its fleet of low-speed electric vehicles Tuesday at its office at 492 W. Lafayette St. in Fayetteville. SUMO hopes people will use the electric vehicles as one-way travel in its service area around Northwest Arkansas. The vehicles have a top speed of 25 mph.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Mikel Lolley wants people to notice when he drives one of his company's new vehicles. It may look like a golf cart, but the low-speed, electric vehicle is street legal and can go 25 mph.

He has been developing Sustainable Urban Mobility, or SUMO, with Robert Munger for the past couple years and opened for business last month. The business is a dealership, but Lolley said their passion and focus is on its car-sharing component.

What is car sharing?

Car sharing is a membership-based car service available to qualified drivers in a community. Pre-approved members share access to a fleet of vehicles, which are typically available at self-service locations known as “pods.” Like a time-share condo, members pay for the time or miles they drive without all of the responsibilities and costs of ownership.

Car sharing helps reduce the number of cars in an urban area, while increasing livability. It supports a shift away from oil and automobile dependency and towards sustainable mobility. Beginning in Europe, car sharing has rapidly spread in the United States, where roughly 1 million Americans now participate in over 26 car sharing organizations.

Source: sumobility.org

"I want to change the world," he said.

The idea is to encourage members to rent one of the fleet's 14 vehicles for short, one-way trips. So far, 25 people have signed up. Startup costs were about $300,000, including about $100,000 in vehicle purchases, he said. New vehicles sell for about $10,000.

SUMO's service area includes about a five-mile radius around downtown. Members reserve a car via text message and pick it up and return it to one of six sites, scattered around the service area. Lolley said they are in talks with several businesses, the city and University of Arkansas to set up more return sites, which also serve as charging stations.

"We don't just want to share cars, but share parking," he said.

Parking and ease of use are a couple of reasons Sarah King uses a SUMO a couple times a week. She's in charge of marketing and community outreach at Specialized Real Estate Group in Fayetteville. The company has return sites in front of its office at 15 N. Church Ave. and at two of its apartment complexes.

Taking the open-air car is fun, she said.

"You have a smile on your face," King said. "It's a good supplement to biking and walking."

Workers at Specialized Real Estate were part of the pilot program, which started about six months ago to work out kinks, Lolley said. The co-owners held five focus groups totaling 50 people to learn what they liked and wanted in a car-sharing service.

"Some customers want to save the environment; some want to save a few bucks," Lolley said.

Peter Nierengarten, Fayetteville's sustainability and resilience director, said the company helps the city advance its goal of providing residents with mobility options. He added the cost savings people can realize from not owning a car or using it less is also good for the city.

"It puts dollars back into the pockets of residents, and they can spend it at local businesses," he said.

Nierengarten said the city has been talking to SUMO about using a few public parking spots for the small, electric cars. Lolley said one standard parking space will hold 3-1/2 low-speed electric vehicles.

Mike Millikin, editor of the Green Car Congress, said increasing urban congestion, cost of auto ownership and operation and changing demographics are helping car sharing become more prominent, especially in urban areas. The Green Car Congress is a web-based, news and analysis company focusing on clean and sustainable transportation issues.

Millikin said there are many types of car sharing programs such as ZipCar, which uses hybrid cars, to peer-to-peer services including Getaround and RelayRides.

Low-speed electric vehicles have been around a long time, typically used on corporate and higher education campuses, he said.

Merging the ideas of car sharing and low-speed electric vehicles is new. Such a company is preparing to launch in Boston later this year.

"SUMO may be able to make a go of it," Millikin said. "It will all come down to ease of service, ability to satisfy customers' transportation needs, and ultimately, cost."

Lolley said they worked to make it an easy process for customers. It's a pay-as-you-go service using PayPal. There are no keys or fobs; cars start automatically when the members text a start demand to the system.

The 14 small vehicles have a driving range of about 40 miles and member rates start at $1.50 for a five-minute rental.

The company also has a Toyota Camry hybrid members can rent and a G2 by GreenTech Automotive. The G2 looks like a traditional car. It seats four, has air conditioning and a radio. It has a range of up to 75 miles and a top speed of 25 mph.

"It's like a tin can on wheels," Lolley said.

SUMO plans on adding a new vehicle to its fleet in September. MyCar, a GreenTech Automotive vehicle, is the size of golf cart but has the look of a smart car. It has doors, heating and air conditioning and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. Speed will be capped at 25 mph and the vehicle can go about 65 miles per charge.

The U.S. Department of Transportation sets the regulations for a vehicle to be street legal, such as requiring a windshield, seat belts and working lights. State law sets limits on the use of low-speed vehicles to roads with speed limits of 35 mph and below, and the vehicles cannot travel more than 25 mph.

Sgt. Craig Stout, public information officer at Fayetteville Police Department, said he considers the low-speed, electric vehicles in the same category as a motor scooter.

"They are fine as long as they go with the flow of traffic," he said.

Customers can rent a vehicle between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. and must be 18 years old and a college student or 21 years old. Members pay a $20 application fee used to verify the applicant's insurance and driving record.

Lolley said there have been some preliminary talks about expanding in Bentonville. He said the model would be a good fit for transporting employees at the Walmart headquarters back and forth to the square.

North Little Rock, Atlanta and Hawaii are other possible markets for SUMO to expand into, Lolley said.

"We have no illusions that Fayetteville will be the best market for car share," he said. "But it's a good place to start."

Christie Swanson can be reached at cswanson@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAChristie.

NW News on 07/03/2015

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