TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Winter 1, Eskom 0

      22 June 2022

      What it will take to bring the Guptas to justice

      22 June 2022

      Inflation in South Africa spikes higher

      22 June 2022

      Eskom announces massive escalation in load shedding

      22 June 2022
    • World

      Tether to launch a stablecoin tied to the British pound

      22 June 2022

      Tech giants form metaverse standards body, without Apple

      22 June 2022

      There are still unresolved matters in Twitter deal, Musk says

      21 June 2022

      5G subscriptions to top one billion in 2022: Ericsson

      21 June 2022

      Crypto lenders face a DeFi drubbing

      21 June 2022
    • In-depth

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022

      Sheryl Sandberg’s ad empire leaves a complicated legacy

      2 June 2022

      Tulipmania meets the real economy at WhatsApp speed

      30 May 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Start-ups»Locomute hits SA highways

    Locomute hits SA highways

    Start-ups By Sunil Gopal22 May 2015
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    locomute-640

    Start-up Locomute, being launched on 1 June, is looking to turn the local car rental industry on its head by offering short-term use of vehicles for as little as an hour at a time.

    Underpinned by technology, Locomute is billed by its founders as Africa’s first car-sharing company.

    Its business model is based on international car rental companies like Zipcar, which has over 900 000 users in the US, UK, Canada, Spain, Austria and France.

    Zipcar’s  Annual Millennial Survey found that urban dwellers between the ages of 18 and 34 are more open to such alternative forms of transport.

    Locomute was founded by Tumi Marope, a former aircraft maintenance engineer at South African Airways, and Ntando Kubheka, a fund manager at one of the big four banks.

    Marope, who is CEO, says the business started as an MBA project at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, where students were tasked with coming up with an innovative and disruptive business idea.

    A visit to a forum in Germany last year, attended by car manufacturers, sparked the idea, Marope says. A keynote speaker had explained how car-sharing schemes were a threat to manufacturers.

    The students investigated the idea further and found there were no car-sharing schemes in South Africa — or anywhere on the continent for that matter.

    Tumi Marope
    Tumi Marope

    But they had difficulty in raising capital and invested their own money instead.

    “We decided to start the business on a smaller scale and build it from the grassroots.”

    Today, the business has five shareholders.

    Here’s how Locomute will work at launch. Users register online and apply to use the service. They download an app, which can be used to check where vehicles are, making a booking and even to unlock the vehicle (members will have a smartcard that can do the same).

    The Android app will be available next week, while an iOS version should be available in time for the launch.

    Costs include a R499 initiation fee and a monthly fee of R45. There’s also a variable hourly and per-kilometre rate. Once-off users pay a R119 fee in addition to a variable hourly and distance rate.

    Members can use any of the company’s cars parked at specific locations or business zones for either one-way or two-way trips.

    At launch, Locomute will be available only in selected areas in Gauteng, including Centurion, Menlyn and Hatfield in Pretoria; Morningside and Fourways in Johannesburg; and Waterfall in Midrand. Cape Town and Durban are next on the cards.

    The cars are available 24 hours a day. Twenty-six vehicles will be available at launch.

    When someone has finished using a car, they simply park it at their nearest Locomute parking facility or designated business zone at airports, transport stations and shopping malls. Leaving a vehicle outside a designated area will attract an extra fee.

    All trips are inclusive of fuel and insurance. And Locomute will even pick up e-toll charges.

    The company is currently making use of the Fiat 500L, which includes features such as air conditioner, a five-inch touchscreen radio with Bluetooth, USB and voice control, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, cruise control and front electric windows.

    Marope says the business is about offering customers convenience. He encourages Gautrain users in particular to use their service. “All Gautrain stations form part of the business zones and we will have a number of parking spots reserved for our cars.”  — © 2015 NewsCentral Media

    Locomute Ntando Kubheka Tumi Marope Zipcar
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleMTN shuts down e-billing portal
    Next Article MTN takes trade union to labour court

    Related Posts

    US allies urged to shun Huawei equipment: report

    23 November 2018

    Podcast | Digital terrestrial television: the state of play in SA

    18 October 2017

    Interview: Roger McCleery on the future of motoring

    18 October 2017
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    More than card machines – iKhokha diversifies to reach more SMEs

    22 June 2022

    What does it cost to be a student in 2022?

    22 June 2022

    Rugged PCs bring AI to the edge in industrial settings

    21 June 2022
    Opinion

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.