Livery service for a clean(er) conscience
Mobility & Transport
Eco-livery car services are spreading: New Yorkers can now call OZOcar and LA has had EcoLimo for a while.
Remember Boston-based PlanetTran, the eco-livery car service? The idea is spreading, as New Yorkers can now call OZOcar (“New York’s first eco-luxury car service”), while it turns out LA has had EcoLimo for a while.
OZOcar caters to a decidedly green-meets-ONLINE OXYGEN audience, offering not only hybrid cars, but an Apple iBook and high speed wireless connection in every car, too. Included in OZOcar’s fleet are the Toyota Prius, Lexus RX 400h, Toyota Highlander, and (as of next year) the Lexus GS 450h. Fares are competitive with less-clean services: a trip from Manhattan in the Prius is USD 60 to Newark Airport or JFK (EUR 50/GBP 35), and USD 45 to LaGuardia.
LA’s EcoLimo is also quite aggressive in its rate setting: it runs at about USD 37 per hour plus gratuity, as opposed to USD 75 for a regular Town Car service. And living up to its name, EcoLimo is actually looking into stretching its hybrid cars by about 2 feet (source: Brentwood Magazine).
Opportunities
LA, New York, Boston: that leaves thousands of cities around the globe up for grabs for this service. Be quick though, as OZOcar has plans to expand to other cities in the US and abroad (next stop is London). Not in automotive? There are plenty of other opportunities left. Many consumers are environmentally aware, but entrepreneurs looking to cash in on this need to make it as convenient as possible for their customers to convert to greener behaviour. What other existing new technologies can you turn into a regular, consumer-focused service?19th December 2005