LimePod

• Easy Access
• Quick Application
• Amenities Included
• Borrowed Ideas

Easy Access

Where LimePod one-ups some of its Seattle competitors is by making its carshare vehicles really easy to access. You don’t have to enter a code on the car. You can just scan a QR code, as you do with the company’s scooters and bikes. However, a code is available if your phone is having trouble.

Quick Application

Users can get into a LimePod approval within a few minutes. Signup just requires scanning your driver's license. LimePod will do a record check which may take a few minutes, but several other companies often require more than a day to process.

It costs $15 to apply, but this will be transitioned into $15 credit once you are accepted.

Amenities Included

When you do a LimePod fee, you get parking, fuel or electric charging, parking, and insurance.
In designated parking areas, members get to park for free, whether it be in a metered or non-metered space.

You also get 24/7 customer support and roadside assistance.

Borrowed Ideas

Before it even started to offer Lime cars in Seattle, the company had served customers, with its adjacent mix of programs for electric scooters and pedal bicycles. In a sense, the company has been able to do product testing for its service models, at a larger scale and smaller price point, in a variety of urban settings in major cities around the world. While LimePod users will likely not reach the same fast critical mass as scooter riders in the near future, the company has already found a pricing model and device access system that are user-friendly. As a result, consumers benefit.

• Availability
• Application Fee
• Prohibited Activities
• Hard to Research
• Max Rental Time
• Cargo Space

Availability

LimePod is a fresh solution to urban mobility issues if you are in the city of Seattle, but if you are anywhere else, you have to wait. The company is said to be opening a new service area in California soon.

If this service sweeps the nation the way that Lime scooter and bike share programs inundated city sidewalks, Lime cars might be coming to a location near you soon.

Application Fee

You have to front $15 to apply, but once accepted, this is transferred to your Lime Wallet account credit.

Prohibited Activities

Using a Lime car won’t be an exact trade for all of the ease of owning a car. While it does include fuel, insurance, and parking in downtown Seattle, there are a few things that are off limits:

• You can’t leave the country, even though Seattle is so close to Canada.
• You can’t drive on unpaved roads, just the paved streets of Seattle.
• You can’t smoke in the car, without a cleaning fee.

Remember, it is a shared car. Cleaning fees for any messes left behind aren’t new or exclusive to this service This is one way that car sharing services differ from traditional rentals. It doesn’t get vacuumed after every use.

Hard to Research

It's hard to find information about the insurance included with this program. Perhaps details are only fully available when you sign up within the Seattle market. It's hard to see what you would be responsible for if included in a car accident or caused some damage. It looks like Lime reserves the right to hold you responsible for anything bad that happens to the car. It would be nice if the company would spell out your risks and liabilities.

Max Rental Time

The longest that users can rent a LimePod car is 24 hours. The program aims to solve commute-related mobility gaps, like its other share programs, rather than offer extended car rentals for weekend trips. If you are looking for a car that you can take out of town on a trip for a couple of days, you might want to try renting a car from a traditional rental group. You could also try peer-to-peer carshare or ReachNow for longer car trips.

Cargo Space

LimePod only uses 2-door cars. They are small and limited space inside.