EVs for all
New electric car share co-op rolls out around the Sound
Words by Leif Utne
Entrepreneur Greg Dronkert gets ready to launch an electric vehicle car sharing program across the Puget Sound region.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are an essential part of a low-carbon future. But if we’re really going to turn the corner on climate change, EVs need to be a viable option for everyone, and soon. So far, their hefty price tags—averaging $65,000 in 2022, according to Kelley Blue Book—have kept EVs out of reach for most car buyers. For low-income drivers, having access to an EV, let alone owning one, is a pipe dream.
Soon, you may not need to own an EV to be able to drive one when you want to, thanks to ZEV co-op, a new all-electric car sharing program rolling out around Puget Sound this spring.
“The idea is to provide affordable access to electric mobility for all,” says Greg Dronkert, ZEV co-op’s founder and board chairman, as he gives me a tour of his office on Bainbridge Island. Dronkert is the president of the Pacific Mobility Group, a cluster of transport-related businesses including PacWesty, which operates a rental fleet of VW camper vans, and EV Works, an electric vehicle conversion shop.
As he shows me around the EV Works shop, Dronkert grins like a little kid showing off his toys. There are two vintage Vespa scooters, an early 1970s VW minibus, a Ford Mustang, and a beautiful Jaguar E-Type, all in various stages of conversion from gas-powered to electric. While these pricey one-off conversion cars are cool, Dronkert is keenly aware that they won’t bring affordable EVs to the masses. That’s why he is so excited about the ZEV co-op concept.
By June, ZEV co-op aims to deploy its initial fleet of 11 electric vehicles at seven locations, from Port Townsend to Tacoma. Funded by a $791,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation, the initial fleet will consist of a mix of sedans, SUVs and wheelchair-accessible vans. Vehicles will be picked up and dropped off at fixed locations.
Here in Kitsap County, the pilot program includes two Chevy Bolt EVs—a sedan and an SUV—stationed at Bainbridge Island City Hall.
Any driver in Washington State will be able to rent ZEV co-op’s vehicles, either as a co-op member for $9/hour, or as a guest for $18/hour (plus a $20/month access fee). Users will be able to reserve a car via a mobile app or by phone. Members can join the co-op as either an individual, for a one-time member equity fee of $500, or a group, for $5,000. Similar to consumer co-ops like REI or PCC Markets, members get a variety of benefits, including an annual patronage refund and the ability to reserve a car up to a month in advance, and have a voice in the democratic governance of the organization.
Dronkert stresses that the co-operative business model is essential to the project’s mission of providing affordable mobility to low-income and rural communities. “As a nonprofit, the co-op’s mission isn’t to make money, it’s to provide a service.”
That’s in contrast to for-profit car sharing companies you may have seen around Seattle in the past decade, like Car2Go, Zipcar and ReachNow. They all came and went, Dronkert believes, not because they weren’t profitable. “They just weren’t profitable enough,” he says, to satisfy their investors’ expectations. A co-op, on the other hand, can be much more patient and responsive to its members’ needs, not investors.
As the co-op’s membership grows and a federal Department of Energy grant kicks in later this year, the fleet will increase to at least 20 vehicles by the end of 2023, adding five more locations in and around Seattle. Next year, Dronkert hopes to add locations in Poulsbo, Bremerton and throughout Western Washington, as far away as Port Angeles, Olympia and Bellingham.
By the end of 2026, the co-op’s goal is to have 250 cars throughout the region. And Dronkert imagines going beyond just cars, vans and trucks. “We could have e-bikes at the parking lots, which you could take home and keep overnight free of charge.”
Photos: Sky Frost
