You might have seen a car or two like that in West Seattle recently. Don Brubeck sent the top photo from Alki Point today. Brian Presser of TouchTech Systems noticed this one near his business in The Junction last week:
Just in time for the Seattle Squeeze, Period of Maximum Constraint, Viadoom 2, whatever you want to call the upcoming tunnel transition and the transportation turmoil that is feared to follow, the LimePod is a new carshare option, from Lime, the same company that started with those ubiquitous green bikes. So what’s the difference between LimePod and the carshare companies already operating in Seattle, car2go and ReachNow? We contacted Lime to find out. and they connected us with Gabriel Scheer, Lime’s director of strategic development, who happens to live in West Seattle. (In fact, he laughed during our recent phone conversation, the LimePod parked in The Junction recently may have been there because he drove it home.)
LimePod is starting small in Seattle but will add more of its little Fiats in early January. One big difference from the other carshare offerings: If you are a Lime user already – the ubiquitous green bicycles and electric bikes – same app. “It’s a multimodal fleet,” as Scheer put it.
In some other cities, you can also use Lime scooters. Lime would like to add scooters in Seattle but hasn’t gotten city approval … yet. (They even offered to do a pilot just serving the Water Taxi, but that was a no-go, Scheer said.)
Another point of differentiation Scheer mentioned – LimeAccess, with discounts – and potential smartphoneless use – for those who qualify. “We want to serve everyone.”
Scheer says Lime believes that by being multimodal, it can be a major asset during the upcoming transport-pocalypse (etc.). For now, the four-seater LimePods are gas-burning, but next year, Scheer says, Lime is moving toward electric cars.
P.S. The LimePods are so new, they don’t even have their own section on the main Lime website. If you’re yearning for more specifics, this GeekWire story has them.
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