Multicity Carsharing Berlin

Recently we have been invited to test out the Multicity Carsharing Berlin service. The service is, as the website states;

'Multicity Carsharing is a ground-breaking approach with a future-oriented solution to modern, urban mobility: It is practical, flexible and, above all, environmentally friendly. It is the first carsharing service in Berlin entirely consisting of 100% electric vehicles.'

With around 350 cars available throughout Berlin, we have already seen them on the streets but still knew little about the service and of course have never actually tried it.

There are other car sharing services in Berlin with a similar concept, but what sets the Mutlicity service apart is that it is the only 100% electric fleet (other services include some electric or hybrid vehicles but are generally petrol/diesel cars). In addition to being 100% electric, the cars are also the same model (a Citroen C-Zero, details available in English at Citroen UK) which means you always know what car you are going to get when you book one...a 4 seater Citroen electric car!

 Registration with Multicity also gives customers the entitlement to use Deutsche Bahn's car sharing service Flinkster and e-Flinkster as well as their bike rental program.

With the invite to test the service I went and registered at the head office at Shönhauser Alle 179 in Prenzlauer Berg. As we were invited to the service, we were provided with free registration (a saving of 9.90 Euros) and some free minutes to test the car.

Registration was quick in person, less than 10 minutes, though it can also be done online. In person, I needed to show;

• my passport 
• drivers license 
• email address
• mobile phone number
• provide my address (which in Germany is best provided through your Anmeldung) 
• and also a method of payment (in my case a German EC card though you can also provide a credit card).

Once registration was completed I was given a 'starter pack' (all in German) which included a brochure about how to use the cars and also a plastic card, which is used to tap on the windscreen of the vehicle to gain access. It was good to be able to talk in person with the nice guy there as I had a few questions which he was able to easily answer. 

Once I got home I had an email waiting for me, welcoming me to the service and providing some further information.

We will find out more about how the service works in a later post, but you may be wondering how you find a car to use in the first place? To find available cars, you can look at a map online on their website to see where the nearest cars (and charging points are), though most people on the go would use the Multicity Carsharing apps for smartphones and tablets, available for Apple and Android devices (as far as I am aware, no dedicated apps are available for Windows phones).

Now that we are registered we are looking forward to putting the service to the test in the near future. As we are now so used to going everywhere by bike, the availability of the car opens up some new opportunities, and perhaps some concerns. Once we test it out we will let you all know about it in another post!

As a thank you for our testing of the service, Multicity have also offered free registration and 60 free minutes to our blog readers! You can check out the offer here and sign up online if you are interested.