If you happen to live in Seattle, Washington, you’re in luck — there’s a brand new way to get around town. Today, BMW announced the launch of a new car sharing service called ReachNow, a “free-floating” program that allows commuters to get a ride in two minutes or less.
A fleet of 370 BMW-owned vehicles including the i3, 3 Series, and Mini Cooper is being spread throughout The Emerald City as you read this, and the German brand has plans to expand ReachNow to three other cities in 2016. In total, the service hopes to serve 10 North American metro areas in the future.
“We are currently witnessing an extremely exciting period in the development of the automotive industry,” said BMW’s Peter Schwarzenbauer. “Our customers rightly expect uncomplicated and fast solutions to their individual mobility needs, especially in metropolitan regions. This is why we are supplementing our classic business model with additional services that make life on the road easier for people in big cities.”
To use ReachNow, interested parties can download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play, after which they register their information and initiate the two-minute approval process. After that, users locate the closest vehicle to them, reserve it for use, and get behind the wheel. Seems pretty simple, right?
“I am pleased that with the establishment of the ReachNow brand, we are able to offer our customers in Seattle “on-demand mobility” — mobility when it’s needed, from one single source,” continued Schwarzenbauer. “With this service, we are building up on Drive Now, our extremely successful European business model, and bringing it up to a new level in the U.S. Seattle is an innovative, internationally-oriented city which makes it the perfect location to launch these services.”
All ReachNow vehicles have a rate of 49 cents per minute while the car is in use and 30 cents per minute when parked. For the introductory period, however, ReachNow will charge 41 cents per minute of use and parking is free, but there is a one-time registration fee of $39 as well.
In addition to car sharing, ReachNow will offer a variety of other mobility programs in 2016 including delivery services, on-hand airport vehicles, longer rentals, corporate rates, a chauffeur service, and a platform that enables car owners to rent out their own rides through ReachNow.
Interested in learning more about ReachNow? Our own Miles Branman trekked up to Seattle to give the service a try for himself, so stay tuned for his first-look impressions.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.