Co-wheels

A UK social enterprise car club that offers pay-as-you-drive cars and vans, with a focus on electric vehicles, in more than 60 towns and cities.

About Co-wheels

Co-wheels is a car club. Instead of owning a car, members book one near their home or work by the hour or the day, using an app, and return it to the same bay. It also runs pool car schemes for organisations and franchise arrangements with local partners.

The company describes itself as a social enterprise and the UK's largest community interest car club operator. Its stated mission is to build a national, community-based car club network, with shared vehicles in neighbourhoods across the UK that support local communities and the environment. The goals it lists are helping members save money, owning fewer cars and making lower-emission transport available to everyone. Its tagline is "Smarter ways to travel".

Co-wheels says it runs in over 60 towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales and has more than 30,000 members. A 2015 feature on its Bristol launch listed car locations across the city, including Bedminster, Clifton, Hotwells and Easton, and partnerships with Bristol Community Health, Avon Fire and Rescue and the University of the West of England. Pierre Fox was quoted there as one of the founders. Its fleet is described as the greenest in England, Scotland and Wales, and includes electric cars and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Its careers page describes a collaborative workplace where people can develop and stretch their skills and help improve the environment for future generations, and lists benefits such as a cycle-to-work scheme, annual bonus, workplace pension and company events (company claims, no details given). It also has a 24/7 call centre, so customer service staff are a big part of the team, alongside fleet, partnerships and app staff. Its Bristol feature quotes member figures from the Carplus survey of 2015 that each car club car takes about four private cars off the road and that car club cars produce about 30% less carbon dioxide per vehicle. Those are survey claims from that year, so they may have changed. In Bristol, members book online or by phone and use a smartcard on the windscreen reader to open the car.

If you like sustainability, transport and community work, Co-wheels is a good example of a business that has a social purpose. Its work spans customer service, vehicle operations, partnerships with councils and housing groups, and app and data roles. Co-wheels also manages pool car fleets for organisations and runs franchise operations, so it works with local councils, hospitals and universities as well as individuals. Its mobile app is available on the App Store and Google Play.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Members book nearby cars and vans by the hour or day.', 'title': 'Pay-as-you-drive car club'}
• {'desc': 'Shared vehicles for councils, universities and businesses.', 'title': 'Pool car fleets'}
• {'desc': 'Local operators and councils run car clubs under the Co-wheels system.', 'title': 'Franchise and partnerships'}

Key facts

• Describes itself as the UK largest community interest car club operator (company claim)
• Over 60 UK towns and cities and 30,000+ members (company claim, 2023)
• Bristol launch with partners including Avon Fire and Rescue and UWE (2015 feature)
• Includes electric and wheelchair-accessible vehicles

Website: www.co-wheels.org.uk