Llanidloes car club started in April 2007 with 4 members. Our first car was on the road in July 2007. We have had a variety of cars during the last 12 years, currently we have a Renault Zoe (5 door hatchback, electric only).
We believe that our cars are some of the most reliable in Wales as they are checked monthly and whenever repairs are required these are carried out as soon as possible.
How Joining a Car club can significantly reduce your carbon footprint
It does not have to be all about new technology, we need better systems to help us use our resources better. One example is the 5p charge on plastic bags which has reduced their usage by over 70% in Wales and many other countries since its introduction https://bit.ly/3aRSu3R. Another one is Car Clubs; they teach people to reduce their car usage because they can work out the cost of any journey beforehand and compare other options. Also, you only pay for those journeys you make, whereas if you own a car, you still have to pay for the insurance, tax, maintenance and incur depreciation.
As an example, I worked out our annual mileage we did in our car before we joined the car club. It was about 21,000 miles and it was costing us £4000 each year in fuel, insurance, tax and repairs. It was an old car and we scrapped it when we joined the car club. After one year using the car club our mileage had reduced to 7,000 miles and it had cost us £2000. I was so surprised at the time that I double checked my figures.
In practice what happens is that you learn to work out how much a journey will cost you and then you can compare that cost with using public transport or decide you can wait until you can combine the trip with another. Also, you will get to know of other people who might be going in the same direction in their own car and ask them for a lift instead.