What is Free Floating, Station Based, and P2P?

Technology continues to make its way into the world of the automotive industry, thus expanding the horizon of possibilities for the sector's players.

As is usual in any field where technology makes its presence felt, new business models to exploit appear along with it, and at the same time new concepts and new terminologies.

Today, we are going to talk about carsharing, the shared vehicle, or shared mobility.

And the fact is that all indicators point to the new mobility business lying in the ability to bill a single car, van or motorcycle to as many customers as possible.

Specifically, we are going to talk about the three modalities known so far in the carsharing market, and their pros and cons. These three models are Free Floating, Station Based, and P2P (or person-to-person).

All three will offer a competitive advantage in the modern shared vehicle market, but only one model will be the right option for you.

Station Based carsharing or "with base station"

This is the classic model. Or that is how we could call it, since it is likely that you have used it at some point, even without realizing it.

A Station Based model consists of a customer picking up a vehicle, driving it to wherever they wish and leaving it at fixed delivery points, generally car parks or commercial parking lots. For example, this is the model of La Flecha Motor or VIVe by Hyundai.

The pros of this model are mainly control, simplicity and safety (and in the case of electric vehicles, the certainty of knowing that charging points will be available).

However, it directly affects customer flexibility, who is forced to contract a service that is, after all, "round trip".

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) shared mobility or "Person to Person"

P2P consists of several owners making their own vehicles available to their customers, as long as they are not using them, as is the case with the Social Car. platform.

So when a customer is interested in a carsharing vehicle, they simply open the App, book the car for a set time and, when finished, coordinate with the owner to return it at a point that suits both parties.

The advantages of this model are greater flexibility for the customer. Although on the other hand, the business owner will have to think in advance about a complex protocol for picking up and returning the cars.

Free Floating car sharing or free fleet

Free Floating consists of having a fleet distributed within a geographic area, where customers locate, pick up and leave the vehicle wherever they wish. And this translates into the maximum possible flexibility for the customer, since they do not have to worry about leaving it in one place or another.

Although all that flexibility logically entails higher costs. And the fact is that Free Floating models are subject to being able to offer car availability to their users and, therefore, we will need staff to relocate the fleet regularly so that it does not naturally concentrate in points of greater interest.

Furthermore, if our service is open to the general public, the business may end up not being profitable due to the costs that this model generates in repairs and in the legal department for non-payments.

This is the case of platforms such as Share Now or Wible.

Do you want to make the best decision?

Fundamentally, you will have to balance your final decision between two variables: flexibility offered to the customer and management difficulties. That is where the game lies.

Our personal recommendation is: start small with a Station Based model.

Station Based models may not give much flexibility to our customer. But if we know them and we know that they value aspects such as price or customer service more, then it will be a simple, profitable and exciting business within the automotive sector.

By the way, if you are considering any of the 3 models for your dealership, remember that you can contact Bequikly, leaders in installation and business development in the automotive sector.