Hiyacar, the peer-to-peer car-sharing platform has today announced its launch in Bristol, bringing a sustainable solution and better utilisation of car usage that they’ve already provided in London and Brighton to over a thousand owners and drivers, since launching in 2016.

The launch will be supercharged with a Toyota partnership that will allow the platform to offer the use of 25 hybrid Yaris’ to the city immediately. The growth of the platform will then continue through car-owners in Bristol who will be able to list their cars on the hiyacar platform allowing for peer to peer car sharing with the company’s keyless technology system, QuickStart – easily installed by a local professional team.

By providing members with the opportunity to share a ‘digital’ set of keys, hiyacar encourages more people to share their car as they are given greater flexibility; with the ambition of creating a future where people can share any car they see on the street – drivers can gain access to cars on demand and owners do not have to be present at key handovers.

Bristol has nearly seventy-two thousand more full license holders than local cars, and with a large number of people also in demographics that show a high propensity to use sharing services living in a relatively small area compared to larger cities, hiyacar sees very strong potential for peer to peer car sharing.

Bristol is particularly appealing to hiyacar as ‘it’s the Greenest city in the UK*’, with the city leading the way in prioritising air-quality and eco-friendly Google searches.  As it is also home to one of the biggest Environmental Sustainability Board’s, established by the City Office, the location is a perfect fit for sustainable solutions like hiyacar, as we already have around 300 registered users in Bristol already.

Transport-related carbon emissions are one of the biggest contributors to global warming, despite their flaws, cars continue to play a huge part in our society. Hiyacar is focused on providing a sustainable solution to car ownership through a focus on car-sharing in the build-up to the mass availability of electric vehicles (EVs).

Graeme Risby, CEO and Co-Founder of hiyacar, said: ‘‘While we still have a need for cars, many are not utilised the majority of the time – by launching in Bristol, our goal is to connect drivers to a car, when and where they want them in a sustainable way.  For every car shared, 11 can be taken off the road and with Bristol’s drive for sustainability through community change, we’re hugely excited to see how we can work with the city, particularly with our key partner Toyota. Everybody wins when sharing!”

Paula Cooper, Director ConsumerOne at Toyota (GB) PLC said, “We have enjoyed a successful partnership with Hiyacar, supporting their London operation for just over a year. The expansion of the service into Bristol will build awareness of the benefits of using Toyota’s self-charging hybrid technology in city centres, and help us as a business gain valuable insights into consumer responses and preferences around the concept of car sharing. This reflects how we are transitioning from our traditional role as a car maker to become a provider and enabler of all kinds of mobility.”

Hiyacar has been busy supporting our front-line workers during the COVID-19 outbreak with its NHS Free Car Hire Initiative, offering free car hire during lockdown to NHS staff and key workers during lockdown to give them an alternative solution to public transport and utilising vehicles that would otherwise be unused. Throughout lockdown, hiyacar gave away just over five years of free car hire to NHS staff.

Thanks to hiyacar’s keyless technology, Quickstart, there’s no human contact involved in picking up and dropping off a car either, everything is done via virtual keys in an app, making it easier for people to adhere to the government’s social distancing guidelines. This initiative will be launched into Bristol alongside the Toyota fleet with a 30% discount for NHS staff and emergency services.