Quick Start Guide
Our Services
Your HOURCAR membership gives you access to two different service types, each allowing trips up to 72 hours long.
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HOURCAR and Evie Loop trips are hub-based. They start and end at the same hub location, and you schedule how long you'll need the car.
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Evie Carshare trips are free-float. 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.
Join
If you are over 18, have been licensed for a year, and meet our Membership Qualifications you can apply to become a member. Membership gives you access to both hub-based and free-float services.
It will take 1-3 business days after you apply for our staff to process your application.
Book
Trips can last for up to 3 days (72-hours) with fuel costs, insurance, and roadside assistance included.
Booking an HOURCAR or Evie Loop
HOURCAR and Evie Loop 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 Carshare
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.
All vehicles can go anywhere in the continental USA as long as you're able to be back to end your trip on time. For HOURCARs and Evie Loop, 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 and Evie Loop State Park passes
HOURCAR and Evie Loop 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 and Evie Loop
For electric HOURCARs and Evie Loop, 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, as long as your trip is 3 or more minutes long. 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 or Evie Loop
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.
If you return your hub-based trip early, you'll still be charged for the time you have reserved. Give us a call and ask to shorten your trip so you don't get billed extra, or email us afterwards for credit reimbursement.
At Evie Loop sites, plug-in and activate charging when you end your trip so it's fully charged for the next driver.
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!
The LED indicator light inside the vehicle will glow green when the vehicle is inside the Home Area and glow red when the vehicle is not in the Home Area. This light only indicates the Home Area, so you'll still need to check the parking rules by reading the signs!
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!
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Charge an Evie. End a free-float Evie Carshare trip at an EV Spot Charger and activate charging — $4
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Get gas. Fill up the gas tank of an HOURCAR trip with at least 5 gallons — $4
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Fix Evie parking. Rescue an Evie vehicle from an incorrect parking location and email us the details — $10
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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
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Go to a carwash. Email us that you took the car for a carwash, free at participating Holiday locations — $2
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Refer a friend. Use your referral code to give a friend $1 registration and $25 drive credit — $25 after friend's first trip
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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.