Getaround, one of the most high profile peer-to-peer car sharing services in the US, has today announced that it’s expanding its reach to a fifth city. Already live in San Francisco, Austin, Portland and San Diego, the service will now be available in Chicago too.
Getaround allows car owners to rent their vehicles to others at an hourly rate via an online interface. The startup, which launched in May 2011 and announced a $13.9m Series A round last month, says that people who rent their cars via Getaround make an average of $350 each month.
In addition to ad-hoc peer-to-peer rentals, Getaround also offers a vehicle management service called Getaway, for people who don’t need to use their own car for a minimum of six months. In this case, the startup handles all rentals and vehicle maintenance, while earning the car owner a potentially tidy sum for zero work. Until now, this has only been available in San Francisco, but Chicago will also offer the service. In both cities, Getaway is in beta.
Getaround operates in a nascent, but busy, market. In California alone, HiGear, RelayRides and Wheelz are all also in operation.
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