Hourcar and Evie nonprofit carshare to end operations after 20 years
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Hourcar, the Minnesota nonprofit carsharing network that operates Evie Carshare throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul, will shut down on Thursday, Oct. 15.
The nonprofit announced Thursday that the board of directors voted to end operations on Tuesday. A post was shared on their website on Thursday.
The nonprofit had more than 4,000 active members who could use the rideshare system to rent an electric vehicle in order to drive around the Twin Cities region.
Amanda LaGrange, the CEO of Hourcar, said the organization faced a huge cost deficit due to rising insurance costs and a decrease in assistance from federal funds.
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“Like a lot of transportation providers across the country, we have had significant increases in vehicle transport and vehicle insurance costs,” LaGrange said. “The unfortunate thing is, at the same time that these costs were increasing, we also were facing what many nonprofits have been — of reduced funding from the federal government, reduced support from foundations and other challenges, and so the funding gap was just not one that we could continue to keep going with.”
Other similar organizations, like a for-profit service in Washington, D.C., called Free2move, ended its carshare service in September.
LaGrange also said that funding for nonprofits overall, not just in transportation, has become more challenging to maintain.
“It's really hard as a nonprofit to balance wanting to tell people how hard it is right now with funding, but also needing to instill a lot of confidence with potential funders that you've got a plan and everything’s OK,” she said. “So it's a tough balancing act.”
Could Hourcar come back?
LaGrange said there’s a small window and a steep funding deficit to overcome to potentially save the service, but after Oct. 15, it will be extremely cost-prohibitive to return the cars to the road.
“We have a few hundred cars; we’re going to have to literally start moving cars where they need to go,” she said. “Once we start that process, it would be hard to undo it. It would be even more expensive than just trying to fund us to stay open.”
In their sunset announcement, Hourcar asked that users share their experience with policy makers, city officials and lawmakers to express how the loss of the rideshare will impact them.
What will happen to the EV charging stations?
The charging stations that make up the EV Spot Network are owned and operated by the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. So while the Evie cars that use the chargers will no longer be available, the EV Spot Charging stations will remain.
Can I buy an Evie car from Hourcar?
No, Hourcar can’t sell your favorite Evie vehicle to you.
LaGrange said ending the car service is an intensive process. It’s not as simple as removing the Evie branding sticker on the side of the vehicle. She said it requires removing technology in the vehicles that allow the rideshare to operate.
However, that doesn’t mean that these vehicles will never see the road again. They just can’t be sold directly from the nonprofit.
“At some point, any person might have a car that used to be a carshare car and not even know it,” she said.
