An electric vehicle car-sharing operation in California’s Central Valley is expanding its offerings, bringing EVs to more residents and expanding transportation options.
Míocar, a nonprofit car-sharing cooperative that began about a year ago serving Tulare and Kern counties, recently expanded its reach into San Joaquin County. It has placed cars at Tracy Homes, a 195-unit property within the San Joaquin Housing Authority. The project is part of the Stockton Mobility Collective, which is led, in part, by the San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG).
Míocar functions as the operational platform for the Stockton Electric Vehicle Carsharing Service, which includes 13 battery-electric vehicles and five charging units throughout the region. Another four cars were added in the recent expansion of the program at Tracy Homes, said Christine Corrales, SJCOG’s manager of planning, who is serving as the project manager.
The Stockton area car-sharing sites logged some 105,500 miles on their vehicles, totaling more than 1,600 trips, according to SJCOG data. The program uses Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Bolts. Pricing starts at $4 an hour or $35 a day, and includes the first 150 miles, with $0.35 per mile charged after that limit. Car-charging, insurance and other incidentals are also included in the price. Participants in the program must be at least 21 years old and hold a valid driver’s license. They must also have a valid credit, debit or bank card, as well as a clean driving record. There are no income qualifications to participate.
“Many of the trips are taken in and around the community, but also day trips outside Stockton,” said Corrales.
A state grant from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) helps to fund projects like the car-sharing program in the Central Valley, the build-out of charging infrastructure to power the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles serving the state’s ports and other areas, as well as numerous other efforts to hasten the transition to zero-emission vehicles. The funding comes from California’s cap-and-trade program. All of these actions are part of CARB’s overall aim to create government incentives to move the market.
“Beyond cleaner air and public health benefits, the program also makes sure residents have reliable transportation to access everyday needs, improving their quality of life and economic opportunities,” said CARB Chair Liane Randolph, in a statement.
Nonprofit, cooperative car-sharing arrangements are generally better poised to serve rural and low-income communities, advocates say.
A co-op is an “excellent balance between best business practices, but then with this over-riding goal of achieving positive impacts, really for the greater good,” said Greg Dronkert, president and board chair for Zero-Emission Cooperative, a nonprofit established to provide zero-emission car-share services in the state of Washington. Dronkert was part of a panel discussion organized by Forth Mobility in January 2023 centered on car-sharing models. “The motivation is to provide services, not profits.”
By contrast, Gig — a private car-share service operated by AAA in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, using hybrid and battery-electric vehicles — charges 60 cents per minute, or $19.99 per hour on weekdays, with a higher rate on weekends.
This story first appeared in Government Technology magazine, Industry Insider — California’s sister publication.
