The company also said it will display its car-sharing technology.

The annual Earth Day celebration is a free event designed to highlight various ways New Yorkers can live and work more sustainably, including such transportation options as car sharing; and electric, low-emission and alternative-fuel vehicles.

“We believe in comprehensive, long-term local transportation planning,” said Anwar Ismael, regional vice president of Enterprise in New York, “and in supporting local citizens, business and government leaders as they advocate for a more sustainable future for their communities.”

Enterprise said that as a result, the company frequently reaches out to organizations like the Electrification Coalition, the Corporate Eco Forum, the Transportation Sustainability Research Center, the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities initiative, and the National League of Cities’ Sustainable Cities Institute — all of whom help broaden discussions about local mobility and the transportation value chain.

Enterprise CarShare is considered by the mother company as a natural extension of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car local car-rental network, which has existed since 1957.

Enterprise said it also continues to lead the home-city market with both car-rental and car-sharing options. Even before the 2007 launch of its car-sharing program, Enterprise provided hourly rentals to customers in New York and other large urban markets who rely on mass transit during the week or simply cannot afford to purchase or maintain a vehicle on their own.

In 2012, Enterprise acquired Mint Cars On-Demand in New York and Boston. Following the acquisition, Enterprise quickly upgraded the operation’s retail car-sharing fleets with newer vehicles — increasing fleet size and expanding service to new neighborhoods to better serve customers.

Now offered under the Enterprise CarShare name, these vehicles are available to members around-the-clock, and available for hourly, daily and overnight rentals.

The company also said that beyond its fleet, Enterprise recognizes that its facilities have the next greatest impact on the communities where it operates. In 2010, Enterprise committed to reduce both energy use and costs by 20 percent companywide over five years through its 20/20 Vision initiative. That impact is being realized in New York, where local energy use has been reduced by 10 percent. The facilities are working to achieve a cumulative reduction in energy use of 25 percent by 2015.

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The carsharing service will begin in Seattle on Dec. 19 by introducing a network of 330 car2go edition smart fortwo vehicles.

Registration for membership opened online Dec. 6 at seattle.car2go.com.

“car2go will soon be one of many ways that people can get around our city,” said Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. “We welcome this new, innovative transportation choice for Seattle residents and visitors.”

For a limited time, all new members who use the promotion code SOUND will receive 30 free minutes of driving time. As well, currently the one-time $35 membership fee is being waived.

“The City of Seattle will now have access to the most technologically advanced carsharing program in the market,” said Nicholas Cole, president and CEO of car2go North America. “The car2go edition smart fortwo is specifically designed with technologies that allow an entire community to use and share cars collaboratively. Members gain access to a car2go with a swipe of a card, drive the car for as long as they’d like, simply end their rental anywhere within the car2go Home Area, and instantly the car becomes available for the next person to use.”

As for car2go services in other cities, Seattle members will be able to locate a car via a smartphone app, via the car2go vehicle finder on the car2go website, by calling the customer call center, or simply by finding an available car on the street, anywhere within the dedicated area.

The dedicated 42-square-mile car2go Home Area, where members can pick up or drop off a car can be seen through this following pdf.

The Seattle service will operate following the same modus operandi as in any city is already does. When a member is finished using the vehicle, he or she can park at any city non-restricted metered or un-metered spaces with time limits of two hours or greater, or on-street in any residential neighborhood within the car2go home area.

Parking, fuel, insurance and maintenance are included at no additional cost.

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The smart brand car sharing service will service three London boroughs.

Starting Tuesday Dec. 4, car2go’s fleet of smart mhd coupes – as they are known on the other side of the Atlantic – are available to use.

People can register free for car2go until the end of 2012, either online at car2go.com/London or at the car2go shop in the world’s first pop-up mall, BOXPARK Shoreditch, or at car rental company Europcar’s stores across London.

Once registered, car2go members can locate any available car through the car2go London website, by using a free app or just by walking up to an available car, touching the card reader on the windscreen, getting in and driving off.

In London, car2go costs 35p per minute and is billed directly to the customers’ account. This rate always includes fuel, insurance, road tax, parking and maintenance.

As is customary for the car2go sharing service, customers don’t have to return their car2go to the same parking bay from which it was collected – any borough-owned or unregulated parking space in a participating borough will do.

Of course the cars can be driven anywhere any car can. The car2go can be kept as long as the customer wants, or for a quick trip across town.

“A lot of Londoners don’t need or want a car all the time but enjoy the freedom that driving brings. car2go gives the best of both worlds – the ability to go where you want, when you want – and in comfort – but without all the costs associated with owning, running and insuring a car full-time,” said Stefan Mueller, CEO car2go Europe gmbh. “Today’s launch in three London Boroughs is a big moment for car2go – the Capital is our first UK city. Of course, we’re working with other Boroughs to bring car2go to more people over the coming weeks and months – and other cities and towns too. We’re really at the beginning of a very exciting story for urban mobility in Great Britain.”

London is the 17th city served by car2go, and globally the company has more than 250,000 customers who use over 6,000 vehicles worldwide.

More than five million car2go transactions have been made to date, and this number continues to rise exponentially. In fact, a car2go vehicle is now being rented at one of the existing locations every four seconds.

Marcus Breitschwerdt, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd, added: “Our smarts are Congestion Charge-exempt, all have eco-start/stop, automatic transmission, air conditioning, GPS navigation, are fuelled, insured and cleaned and are available 24/7. If you park in a Borough-operated parking bay in Islington, Sutton or Newham you don’t even have to pay for parking – car2go has got that covered too.”

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