Used to be that if we wanted to go to Tahoe for the weekend we had to rent a car (or cadge a lift) but late last year City Carshare updated their plans to include a daily rate—so last weekend we gave it a shot.

Renting from Hertz would have been $30/day for three days, plus $12.99 for insurance and then the gas on top of that. CCS is $40/day with 200 miles each day for 10¢/mile—so basically $60/day with 600 miles to use over the weekend, and that includes the gas and insurance. Plus you get to choose what car you get and pick it up from the local lot.

Being brave and foolish (and having looked at the weather forecast) we took a Prius rather than something all-wheel drive like the Honda Element. It was a great trip, but I might invest in a set of Prius-sized snow chains for next time just in case.

Booking CCS cars for weekends usually requires some forward planning (we booked a week in advance), but I wonder if making these extended reservations possible will make it even harder to get a car at short notice at weekends (I’ve heard tales of ‘zip-squatting’ in New York, where people speculatively book up all the weekends on zipcar just in case.)

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