Will car ownership become a thing of the past?

Shifting attitudes toward private vehicle ownership could mean that owning your own car could become a thing of the past here in the UK. There’s certainly talk that this could become a reality - Government Transport Minister Trudy Harrison has said it’s necessary that we as a nation aim to ditch the "20th-century thinking centred around private vehicle ownership and towards greater flexibility, with personal choice and low carbon shared transport.”

While discussing the benefits of public transport, bike share services, e-scooters, and ride sharing platforms; and stated that “the challenge is to move further and faster to make shared mobility less of a novelty and increasing the norm to make it as easy, as convenient and as accessible as possible”. These comments have been met with a mixed reception though - as you can probably imagine, not everyone is keen to give up their cars!

If you’re debating selling your car and switching to a shared service, you might want to consider renting a vehicle instead - here at Intack Self Drive we offer great deals on minibus hire, van hire, and car hire, not to mention a fantastic Flexi-hire scheme which gives you the freedom to hire a vehicle for a period that suits you.

Now, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the discussion surrounding private vehicle ownership - so here’s the latest on where everything’s at.

Increased emphasis on shared vehicle schemes

James Taylor, general manager at Zipcar, has called on city officials to “promote car-sharing schemes more widely”, as a way to help boost the take-up of electric vehicles (EV). He’s said that by giving people the option to hire EVs, this would provide them with an “affordable way” to access these green mobiles.

This is by no means a new trend - in London, several car clubs already operate within the city, with around 600,000 Londoners already signed up as members. Plus, Mr. Taylor’s pleas have been backed by Trudy Harrison, who has added to the debate by adding that the benefits of shared schemes would be "really significant”, and would include clean-air benefits and “greater connectivity”.

Clearly, there is substantial interest in pursuing this cause. The next question is: would this be a universally beneficial pursuit?

Are there any downsides?

Well, the environmental benefits that this sort of action would reap speak for themselves. It would definitely help to drastically reduce carbon emissions in built up areas, and further help the government achieve its Net Zero plans. However, the ever shifting attitudes towards private vehicle ownership could have severe consequences, particularly for those living in rural areas.

It doesn’t necessarily take a lot of specialist expertise to work out - put simply, people living in the countryside may find it extremely difficult to cope under these conditions, given that generally speaking, populations are much sparser in these areas than those of cities, limiting the access and availability of rental vehicles provided in a car sharing scheme. Couple this with the limited access to public transport, and lack of infrastructure to support a fully electric vehicle population, EV car sharing schemes look like an unlikely option for these areas at this present time. However, accessibility for rural areas is obviously a key concern for proponents of shared vehicle schemes, so watch this space for further developments!

That’s the latest! It’s a lot of food for thought, but whatever side you fall on! regarding this debate, if you are thinking of taking the plunge and ditching your motor, you’re always welcome to explore our fantastic range of rental vehicles here at Intack.

We’ve been proud suppliers of the best rental vehicles for nearly half a century! You can rely on us to provide you with fantastic deals on daily, weekly, and short term vehicle hire services, and if you’ve got any more questions or you need a bit of clarification, you can find more answers over on our Frequently Asked Questions. Or if you’re ready to get started, you can browse the best hire deals right here on our site at Intack Self Drive, or give us a call on 01254 57811!