sharexmobility.com has i-Mievs for rent!

Hello Forum,
My name is Sega and I'm a Miev owner 6 times over. Bought 5 since the year began. I've started a rental company in the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. I started it WITHOUT dealer support, since the dealer on the island is not certified to sell or repair EVs. No one on the island is certified for EVs. I know you may have questions about the biz. Please check out our site's blog.

I'm here to get some love & knowledge from the tech savvy and the experienced about keeping these cars lasting as long as possible. The fleet is all 2012 SE model (MMCS, Alum wheels, Bluetooth) cars. I'm also here hoping to find already certified skilled mechanics that I MIGHT import to deal with the statistically low chance of control unit or battery issue. Have had one here 14 months & no problems. That airbag sensor recall popped up, though.

I've got a friend in industrial materials retail creating custom rubber-ish floor mats and trunk mats to keep my cars clean.
I'm hoping to find a nice seat cover set to buy 6 of them. I may get someone on the island to stitch something together.
I was driving the car on HGTV when my family was chosen for Caribbean Life. Also on the blog.
I'm also looking for those who know how to get a charger remote for less than $200.
If you know how to program a blank key, I've got 4 to do.

Forum members will definitely will be warmly welcomed to the island. We're on the French side, but expanding to the Dutch by the fall.
Currently considering a Navistar eStar electric van I stumbled upon. It is in the inspection process. We are getting feedback pointing to equal commercial renting and tourist renting, since small businesses here are looking to keep costs low. The van would be a major asset.

But back to my 6 jelly beans. They are all under 8000 miles, no rust, great paint, etc. I used aimmobileinspections.com for checking all the cars which came from 6 dealers east of the Mississippi River. 2 have 2 keys, 4 have one. 2 are missing remotes. I used EVSEupgrade.com for the charger augment to 220v current on the French side. Ideally would like a fleet of 30. However, we still are working on capital for that and building an office with solar roofing.

What am I missing? Great to be a part of the forum! Help?!?!

Hi Sega . . .

Thanks for joining the Forum and for setting up such a unique ecologically-minded car rental business model on your island. Great story! I found your web site and enjoyed looking through it. I'll link it here for everyone else . . .

http://www.sharexmobility.com/

I'm sure others will log on to share advise, but I'll start by saying that one of the first things to buy for your fleet would be the official Mitsubishi Service Manual CD. This is the link is for the 2012 North American edition, which covers all the individual printed manuals . . .

http://www.helminc.com/helm/Result....2&Category=1&Keyword=&Module=&selected_media=

Stay in touch . . .

Hi Sega,

Thank you for joining our forum and congratulations for being so astute as to absolutely minimize such a large part of your capital expenditure in getting your EV car-rental business started! I can't imagine a less-expensive vehicle (both to buy as well as operate) as a rental car on your beautiful island!

A few observations -

Forget the Remote! Label and put them away in a drawer. You don't need the pre-heating on St. Martin, your weather is just fine with windows open, charge timing would simply not be done by your customers, and while at your facility you can control timing via mechanical clock timers.

Be aware that airbags are located in the front seats so any cover you put on should allow for that on the side.

Keys are an issue and to lower your costs I wouldn't bother with remote-door-unlocking pushbutton ones but you do need the less-expensive ones with the chip inside which needs to be programmed (by a locksmith, dealer unnecessary). Make friends with your local locksmith and get a quantity discount.

Pay attention to tire pressures, keep the cars clean, maybe stockpile a few tires, and you're all set!

I'm curious as to how you are arranging for car charging and whether your customers will even rack up enough miles so they have to do it themselves?

My brilliant plan is to get businesses on the island to either offer up outdoor outlets to plug into, or if they're really interested in collecting eco status, get a level 2 charger. I have an AeroVironment Wall charger right now that is waiting to be attached to a McDonalds with office space above it. The office space owner is family.
They'll also be leasing 2 EVs for their office workers.
The island is 36 sq miles. Work commutes alone would mean twice weekly charging, not daily. Putting 12,000 miles on a car annually would be incredible here. It wont happen. Our EV with over a year here has racked 7000 miles from me plus my self employed mother in law AND brother in law constantly driving during non rush hour. Total cost for electricity that year was $145.
We are hoping to convince local businesses to eat the cost of install & electricity for the panache of being connected to the new thing on the island, the eco- thing & become a place where drivers would potentially SPEND money! We will also keep a charging station map in the car. Using our cars includes affiliated charging stations and insurance.
PS: Thanks for the tips!

Congratulations, I think you picked the perfect car for a small island. I'm just curious how they generate power on your island. Are there better times to recharge than others? Maybe solar would be a good investment although it might be better to get established first.

Oil powered generation on both sides of the shared island. The Dutch side pays roughly 5 times the amount you'd pay in the US. I live in DC half the year now and pay 8 cents per... they pay 35 to 55 cents per... to GEBE. They have brownouts as a standard.
The French side has a more socialized approach. The partly government run utility, EDF, keeps prices the same across their population. France pays 7 to 9 cents per... so do all of their other constituents. In France, nuclear is the prime power source.
You're darn right that as soon as I can get solar panels for my biz on the Dutch side or the French, I'll put them up. There are no incentives for EVs or renewable energy production. I believe the Dutch side (called Sint Maarten) actually take the Arizona & Nevada approach to solar, which is tax them more than non-solar homes.