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Quick Start Guide

This guide provides the basics for any HOURCAR or Evie Carshare trip. Explore this Wiki to dig deeper into any topic or reach out to our Member Services team with questions.

  • HOURCAR trips are round-trip. They start and end at the same hub location, and you schedule how long you'll need the car.

  • Evie Carshare trips are one-way. They can start and end anywhere within our Home Area, and are first come first served.

Member Services is available 24/7 at 612.343.2277 and during business hours at info@hourcar.org.

Book 🗓

Trips can last for up to 3 days (72-hours) with fuel costs, insurance, and roadside assistance included.

Booking an HOURCAR

HOURCAR vehicles are round-trip and located at set hubs around the Twin Cities and surrounding metro area. Pick a hub and reserve a vehicle for as short as 30 minutes or as long as 3 days. Return the car back to the same hub you picked it up from before the end of your reservation time. Reservations can be scheduled up to 6 months in advance.

Booking an Evie

Evie Carshare vehicles are free-floating and located within our Home Area in the Twin Cities. Pick an available car near you and hold it for up to 15 minutes while you find the car, then return it to anywhere inside the Home Area within 3 days. Use the Radar feature to get a notification when a car is available nearby.

Drive 🚗

Use the Evie Carshare app to start, pause, and end your trip, or link a Metro Transit Go-To card if you don’t have a smartphone. Once your trip is active, you’ll be able to start the trip without keys in push button start cars and you’ll find keys in the glove compartment for keyed vehicles.

All paid plans include 200 miles per trip per day, up to 600 miles on a 3-day trip. If you’re in an electric car, check out our electric vehicle road trip tips for the best experience.

Both HOURCARs and Evies can go anywhere in the continental USA as long as you're able to be back to end your trip on time. For HOURCARs, this means returning to the hub by your scheduled end time and for Evies, this means back in the Home Area within 72 hours.

HOURCAR State Park passes

HOURCAR vehicles are equipped with Minnesota State Park passes for free entry to any Minnesota State Park.

Evie Parking

Evie Carshare vehicles have free metered parking costs in the cities of St Paul and Minneapolis. This does not include U of M or Parks Board owned metered parking or any private parking costs.

Fuel ⛽ ⚡

The Evie Carshare fleet is all electric and the HOURCAR fleet includes electric, gas, and hybrid vehicles.

Gas and charging costs are paid for on all cars, either through a pre-paid card or via reimbursement of credit with receipt. If you’re in an electric car, check out our charging help pages to get the most out of your trip.

Refueling Gas HOURCAR

For gas and hybrid HOURCARs, you are required to fill up the tank using the provided gas card if it’s ¼ tank or less. You’ll get $4 drive credit once per trip for every fill up over 5 gallons. The pre-paid gas card works at most gas stations and no action is needed to receive credits. Our staff manually processes these credits, so it may take up to a week for you to receive them.

Recharging Electric HOURCAR

For electric HOURCARs, you are required to plug in and activate the charger at the end of every trip. If you need to charge mid-trip, you can do so with the provided cards in the glove compartment or email us receipts for chargers not covered by the included cards.

Recharging an Evie

Ending an Evie Carshare trip plugged into and activated at an EV Spot Charger gives you $4 of drive credit. It’s not required to end at a charger but there’s convenient locations throughout the Home Area. If you need to charge mid-trip, you can do so with the provided cards in the glove compartment or email us receipts for chargers not covered by the included cards.

Return

All trips must be returned within 72 hours of trip start, for a total of three days of driving available. When ending your trip, clean up after yourself to leave the car in good shape for the next member, and make sure all lights are off.

Returning an HOURCAR

If you’re running late for your scheduled end time, you may be able to extend your trip via the app if it’s not reserved by another member. If you can’t return in time, this may delay someone else’s trip and result in fees for you, so give us a call for help.

Ending an Evie trip

Evie trips must be ended at an approved parking space within the Home Area. These spaces include parallel parking spots on public streets, city meters with time limits of at least two hours (no need to pay for metered parking), EV Spot Chargers, and dedicated parking spaces. Watch out for any future temporary (street sweeping, snow emergency, event rectrictions, etc) or permanent parking restrictions to avoid a ticket!

Fees and Credits 💵

Credits

We appreciate the work members do to make our service run smoothly, and you can get credits for helping us out! Here’s some ways you can earn credits:

Manually Applied Credits

Charging an Evie and Refer a Friend credits should apply automatically if done correctly, and Gas Credits will be added in 3-5 business days. For all others below, please be sure to send proof of your action to info@hourcar.org to have our staff apply your credits for you!

  • Charge an Evie. End an Evie Carshare trip at an EV Spot Charger and activate charging — $4

  • Get gas. Fill up the gas tank of an HOURCAR trip with at least 5 gallons — $4

  • Fix Evie parking. Rescue an Evie vehicle from an incorrect parking location and email us the details — $10

  • Clean up mess in a car. Take a photo on the cleanliness report of the mess and email us to let us know you removed it — $2

  • Go to a carwash. Email us that you took the car for a carwash, free at participating Holiday locations — $2

  • Refer a friend. Use your referral code to give a friend $1 registration and $25 drive credit — $25 after friend's first trip

  • Say hello! Find our Engagement Team at an event – Variable

Fees

Fees should be fully avoidable if you’re acting as a responsible member of the carsharing community.

Returning vehicles on time, ensuring the car is cleaned before you end your trip, and following parking rules, all help other members and are an expected behavior for our members. Please see our rules and full chart of possible fees so you are not surprised by a bill.

Rules and Fees Chart