Hyperdrive
Here Is the Future of Car Sharing, and Carmakers Should Be Terrified
Moscow’s sharing boom shows how quickly consumers can abandon the traditional car.
Moscow is ranked as the world’s second-worst city for traffic congestion.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
When Evgeny Barkov owned a car, the 31-year-old software salesman would often look out of his Moscow window at it with disgust. His possession sat unused more than 90 percent of time, while sucking up money and causing him anxiety that it might break down.
He finally took out a calculator, added up all the costs and determined he was better off selling his grey Peugeot and switching completely to car-sharing services such as Yandex.Drive, which offers cars ranging from basic Kia models to flashy Porsches.