zipcar

Zipcar just launched Zipvan, a pilot cargo-van program, in San Francisco. Now, Bay Area Zipcar members can use a Ford E-150 cargo van for $14.75 per hour, or $99 per day.

Behind the driver and front passenger seats, the cargo vans offer 230 cubic feet of space--enough room for a queen-size mattress, band equipment, or a few pieces of furniture from IKEA.

The new Zipvan service will launch in January 2012 with 15 vehicles, at locations in San Francisco and Oakland. Initial Zipcar locations offering cargo-van service include: Market Street at 15th Street, 14th Street at Stevenson Street, and … Read more

Download.com Associate Editor Jaymar Cabebe stops by to help Antuan Goodwin host today's show. We take a look at CNET's wishlist for the rumored next Nexus phone and, boy, are our expectations great. Leaked photos show that LG is taking aim with a dual-screen gimmick phone at an entry level price. If rumors are to be believed, Antuan will have something to look forward to on his HTC Thunderbolt and so do you Motorola Atrix 4G users. Jaymar helps us figure out what Yahoo is up to with its new Play music app for Android and Antuan … Read more

After almost two months of beta testing in the Android Market and almost a full two years since the iPhone version was first demonstrated, the Zipcar for Android application has been updated today with a bright, shiny version 1.0 release.

Those who checked out the beta or have spent time with the iPhone version won't notice much difference in this official release, but the company states that the app is now faster and more efficient than the beta version. Zipcar for Android will let members of the car-sharing service search for cars by location and vehicle type, reserve … Read more

Mobile-savvy commuters can now access the popular Zipcar car-sharing service right from their Android mobile devices. Just released this past week, the new Zipcar app for Android is as useful as its iOS counterpart, as it enables Zipcar members to map out, reserve, unlock, and even honk the horn of their Zipcar of choice. Non-members can still download and browse nearby inventory, but can't reserve, lock, or, sadly, honk any of the vehicles.

While the app appears to be fully functioning, it's important to note that it is still officially in beta, which means users may run into … Read more

When you think of environmentally friendly transportation on college and university campuses, you usually think of bicycles. But in cold winter weather, or when going off campus for errands or hauling more than the average backpack around, a Zipcar fits the bill.

For $8 per hour or $66 per day, and an annual fee, 1.7 million students, faculty, and staff have 24-hour access to Zipcars. The company now has ride-share programs on more than 225 campuses.

"We know that college students quickly embrace the concept of car sharing. This is the same generation that buys music by the … Read more

They don't go up for sale until 2012, but Zipcar has managed to snag eight Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV) for its members to rent as part of a testing program with Toyota for the prototype vehicles.

Zipcar locations in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., San Francisco, and Portland, Ore., will receive the plug-in Prius cars, which have an electric range of up to 13 miles on a full battery and can be charged from a standard 110-volt outlet in up to 3 hours. For longer distances, the plug-in Prius achieves an average of 50 mpg, according to Toyota. … Read more

Car-sharing service Zipcar announced Tuesday that it has filed for an initial public offering estimated at $75 million; the move is designed to pay off debt as the venture-backed Cambridge, Mass.-based company, which is not profitable, aims to expand its footprint in cities and college campuses in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

A regulatory filing explains that Zipcar plans to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "ZIP."

Zipcar courts a young, urban, and tech-savvy audience through a notable Facebook and Twitter presence as well as an iPhone app with a horn-honking button. … Read more

My Thanksgiving was spent in the New York City area, since my family all live on Long Island. But, since I live in the city in an area that's not conducive to owning or parking a car, I'm a renter when it comes to trips. As a result, services like Zipcar and other rental agencies are of great importance to me, as is the quality of their services as opposed to their apps.

When it comes to Thanksgiving car rentals, the city's supply dries up incredibly quickly--weeks in advance, if my attempts were indicative. In particular, Zipcar--the … Read more

Zipcar, that post-dot-com-era savior of car-rental-haters everywhere, recently got a big boost to its already somewhat high-tech take on part-time car acquisition with the launch of its iPhone app. A mix of simple map-based search and reservation functionality and a neat headline-getting software remote to lock, unlock, and honk the horn on your car--it's a nice mix. I was sure to download the app as soon as I could, since I'm a frequent Zipcar user in New York City. Or, at least, I used to be. See, there's an area of Zipcar that could still use some improving.

The actual capability to find one's reserved car, for instance. For two consecutive weeks, Zipcar promised me a vehicle that simply wasn't there.

Week one: I had reserved a car less than 10 blocks from me. The day before my reservation, a customer service representative called me on my iPhone to tell me that my vehicle needed "emergency steam-cleaning," and rerouted my reservation to one of the only available emergency cars left on short notice, which was located miles away. I'd need to take a cab there and back or use an elaborate path of subways and buses, and the representative told me to save my taxi receipts and fax them to Zipcar so that I could be reimbursed.

Week two was worse.… Read more