Earlier this year, a new car-sharing service called ReachNow debuted in Seattle, Washington. Owned by BMW, the brand allows those without wheels to scoot around town in vehicles like the 328xi, the all-electric i3, and the Mini Clubman, offering a unique experience compared to companies like Car2go.
We were intrigued by the premise of on-demand mobility with a luxury focus, so we trekked up to Seattle to give the service a try for ourselves. You can read our full impressions here, but thankfully, the company is now launching right in Digital Trends’ backyard of Portland, Oregon on September 19.
Ahead of that date though, ReachNow is offering a Preview Drive where the one-time membership cost of $39 is waived, meaning the only costs for the time being are 41 cents per minute of driving and 30 cents per minute while parked. That’s a pretty solid deal for Portlanders, but be advised, the registration fee and driving rates will return normal after the introductory period ends.
“As a pioneering city for transportation alternatives, Portland is proud to welcome ReachNow,” said Leah Treat, Director of Portland’s Bureau of Transportation. “On-demand car sharing supports our existing transit and bike infrastructure, helping Portlanders get where they need to go, when they need to be there.”
Read more: BMW’s ReachNow service is flooding Seattle with cheap, easy transportation
Using ReachNow is straightforward — simply download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play, after which you register your information and initiate a two-minute approval process. After that, you find a car within the “Home Area” (currently the Convention Center, Central Eastside, Downtown, and the Pearl District), drive, and return it within the Home Area when you’re done.
The BMW 3 Series, Mini Clubman, and two-door hardtop Mini will be the first vehicles to launch as a part of ReachNow’s Portland fleet, but the BMW i3 and X1 crossover will be added by the end of the year. According to brand CEO Steve Banfield, some 260 cars will be on the streets by the official launch date.
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.