Сarsharing in Poland

At the time of writing (November 2023), there are only 3 carsharing companies in Poland. Previously, there were 6.

Which operators are present in Poland

1. Panek - in most cities in Poland
2. Traficar
3. 4mobility - many cities in Poland

These car sharing operators do not exist any more:

1. GoGet - operator, was represented by electric cars, BMW I3, Nissan Leaf
2. Vozilla - was represented by a fleet of Nissan Leaf in Wroclaw.
3. Innogy GO - the company was represented by a fleet of 500 electric BMW I3 in Warsaw.

Failure of carsharing Companies with Electric Vehicles

The failure and withdrawal from the market of all companies with electric vehicles occurred because the Polish infrastructure was not ready for such a number of cars and operators. Moreover, car sharing with electric vehicles has its own logistical component. Despite the apparent reduction in the cost of current expenses due to the absence of payments for fuel, companies incur these expenses due to increased depreciation and provision of vehicle logistics (delivery to charging stations, etc.).

Today's operators have electric vehicles in their fleet, but they are not the flagship or dominant. For example, in Panek's fleet there is a Fiat 500 electric and in Traficar's fleet there is a Renault Zoe.

Free or station based sharing?

All studied companies in Poland turned out to be free sharing. We did not meet any station operators. Free sharing exists where the city infrastructure and the policy of the city authorities contribute to it. Regulations in Poland are much simpler than in many cities and countries in Western Europe.

Car sharing, subscription, car rental in Poland

Our research has shown that car sharing companies in Poland have either grown out of car rental or continue to actively promote car rental to the masses, despite the development of sharing infrastructure.

Panek has a car rental company of the same name. 4mobility is initially designed for long-term car rentals, although it offers the option of opening a car via an app.

Key or app?

Operators indicate that if the car has a push-button start, then the car should be locked through the application during the rental period; at the same time, if the car has key access, operators suggest using keys to unlock and lock the car during the rental period (we found this with Panek, Traficar). We can associate this circumstance with leasing contracts and warranty obligations to car manufacturers.

What models are in fleets?

Basically, companies tend to use monomodel cars. This makes them cheaper to maintain and you can get a lot more discounts from the seller.

Tarficar focused on Renault, Dacia, 4mobility on Audi, and Panek chose Toyota, slightly diluted with the Fiat brand and various manufacturers in minibusses.

Types of cars in car sharing fleets in Poland

Mostly small city cars are used, there is also a small number of C-class cars and crossovers.

A separate type of vehicles has been added - cargo minibusses, which can be used for commercial transportation, moving and more (operators Panek, Traficar).

Territory of use

The cars of most of the companies can be used all over Poland, some of them offer trips outside Poland (Panek, 4mobility), and one of them, Panek, even offers delivery of the car in the neighboring countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia).

Panek and 4mobility offer transport between cities and the end of the rental there, with little or no extra charge.

Municipal parking is free for all customers of all operators.

Tariffs for carsharing

Operators use per-minute billing, which does not charge for time, but only for distance. In daily rates there is a small charge for time. Only one operator has payment for time in minute rates (4mobility).

General parameters for comparing Polish carsharing services

Comparison of prices for carsharing in Poland

for light cars

for cargo minibusses

Comparison of Polish carsharing apps

2023-11-30