Self-driving platform ekar launches car subscription service

Carsharing platform ekar has introduced a subscription-based long-term car leasing service.

Ekar Subscription allows users to book cars, from one to nine months, with a single monthly subscription cost and no down payments or long-term commitment.

All cars come with maintenance and roadside assistance and can be switched, traded up, or returned at any time. Users select their desired model-from economy to luxury-on the app and a car is delivered to their doorstep within 24 hours.

Ekar was the most utilised free-floating carshare service in the world in 2019. It has served more than 200,000 self-driving customers and booked 1.3 million trips in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. With the launch of the new service, ekar now offers both carsharing and subscription leasing from the same app.

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Vilhelm Hedberg, the founder of ekar, says Covid-19 shifted the way people consume transportation, with a focus towards self-drive. “Tens of thousands of new members joined ekar post lockdown in search of a safer mobility solution. To meet demand, in November 2020 we launched ‘ekar Fleet’ as part of ekar Mobility OS, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for car rental and leasing companies to rent their fleet on the ekar platform remotely.”

“Ekar Subscription is the next step in responding to the requests of members asking for longer-term self-drive solutions, without the costly commitment of car ownership,” Hedberg added.

The global automotive subscription services market is set to surpass $40bn by 2026, according to a research report by Global Market.