General Motors' OnStar subscribers can now rent out their idle vehicles through the RelayRides marketplace.
General Motors OnStar telematics service is getting into the car rental business. Or, more precisely, into the fast-expanding world of car-sharing.
The concept skips the busy corporate rental counters that motorists traditionally experience. Instead, car-sharing allows an owner to rent their vehicle directly to another motorist – often for brief periods and at substantially lower rates.
Nearly 6 million OnStar customers will be eligible under the new program which pairs the GM service with car-sharing leader RelayRides. The alliance will allow a renter to get the keys to a vehicle without having to meet the car’s owner.
“General Motors, through OnStar, and RelayRides have joined forces to create an entirely new mobility solution for U.S. drivers interested in more affordable, sustainable and collaborative automobile options,” explained GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky. “Our exclusive relationship with RelayRides provides an exciting new choice: the first automobiles to run on collaborative consumption.”
RelayRides was launched in Boston in 2010 and took its service national early this year. GM’s General Motors Ventures LLC private equity arm has made an unspecified investment in the service.
RelayRides is one of a growing number of car-sharing services that aim to appeal to renters who don’t want to deal with classic companies like Hertz or Avis. One advantage is that vehicles are likely available in a customer’s neighborhood, rather than having to go to an airport or some other central location. And rentals may be made for just a few hours at a time, rather than a day or more.
For vehicle owners, car-sharing provides a way to earn money during the hours of a day a vehicle might otherwise be sitting unused.
Shelby Clark, president of the car-sharing service, claims to have “thousands” of vehicles available around the country. Until now, a customer would have to meet with the vehicle’s owner to obtain the keys. But as part of the deal with OnStar, the GM service has created a special app that can be used to locate the appropriate vehicle to rent, then complete the digital “paperwork.”
But perhaps the most significant development is that the app can be used to unlock the vehicle remotely, without the owner or another representative being on hand to turn over the keys.
“Using the OnStar API to access GM vehicles empowers RelayRides to make car sharing even safer and more convenient,” said Shelby Clark, RelayRides founder and Chief Community Officer. “The sheer number of vehicles eligible for the program allows us to greatly expand across the U.S. and introduce the economic, environmental and community benefits of car sharing to regions that car sharing services have previously been unable to serve.”
Not surprisingly, the deal will work with GM products represented by RelayRides.