Car sharing services started strong in cities like Berlin, Munich and Vienna, and now in Romania, too. The only company in Romania that offers such services, Pony Car Sharing in Cluj-Napoca, expands in Bucharest, with a fleet of 15 BMW i3 electric cars,according to Hotnews.

In Cluj-Napoca there are available 50 Volkswagen up! and Smart Fortwo cars for rent inside a car sharing scheme, and prices start from 1 leu per minute. If the speed of the vehicle is below 15 kmh, the rate decreases by half.

Users reserve the vehicles via a mobile application available for iOS and Android, and make payment via an application (data entry requires a credit card). The service was launched in the last quarter of 2015 by advertisers Iulian Padurariu and Demis Ghindeanu that are also behind the firm Marks in Bucharest.

After the start in Cluj-Napoca, Pony Car Sharing expands to Bucharest. There are now three BMW i3 electric cars available, and by the end of this year other 15 BMW i3 and 10 MINI will be available. Besides the fleet of 15 i3s to Pony Car Sharing, BMW Group Romania will deliver other five i3 models to the car rental company MLS.

BMW Romania, in partnership with Baneasa Business and Technology Park, has put into operation a charging station with two slots, one for 22kW and 50kW each. The 50kW loading point of is the only so powerful in Bucharest that is publicly available and free to all owners of electric cars. There are other 50kW stations in Bucharest, but are for private use or with payment. The investment in such a station amounts to 30,000 euros plus 8,000 euros in installation.

Unlike the system in Cluj-Napoca, where anyone can rent the car that during any period and can leave it almost anywhere in town (the concept called “free floating” where there is a kind of virtual enclosure) the system in Bucharest is dedicated to companies and their employees, and not open to anyone.