November’s Carshare Operator Members Chat

Key Takeaways from November 2025 CSO Member Chat

Every month, the Carsharing Association (CSA) brings Carshare Operators (CSOs) together for a closed-door conversation about what’s happening on the ground across fleets, cities, and regions. The November 2025 session brought strong turnout and rich discussion — spanning vandalism trends, resilience planning, technology challenges, tele-operations pilots, and early exploration of group insurance options.

Below is a recap of the major themes and conversations.

EV Charging Vandalism & Infrastructure Theft

Multiple operators are experiencing repeated cable cutting and charger vandalism — often for copper theft.

Key insights shared:

  • Some charging sites are targeted weekly or monthly.
  • Colorado CarShare reported repeated cut cables, even after replacements.
  • Communauto noted vandalism is inevitable at scale (5,500+ vehicles = ~10 incidents weekly).
  • ZEV Co-op recently upgraded to steel-reinforced charging cables, which significantly reduced damage.
  • Insurance rarely covers these incidents, so vandalism becomes a planned budget line item.

Strategies discussed:

  • Relocating vulnerable charging stations
  • Using reinforced cabling
  • Accepting vandalism as operational overhead at scale
  • Building relationships with city partners on high-risk sites

Business Continuity & Technology Resilience

Carshare Vermont raised a critical industry question:

“How do operators protect themselves if a major technology or software partner collapses, shifts strategy, or discontinues support?”

Themes:

  • Operators are increasingly questioning vendor stability — not just price.
  • Some CSOs explore shared tech arrangements (e.g., ZEV + MioCar’s shared Good Travel Software ecosystem).
  • Others consider partial in-house builds for key components like dashboards, APIs, or fleet monitoring.
  • The need for a future CSA panel or webinar on resilience was strongly supported.

Tele-Operations (Remote Driving) Pilot: A Glimpse Into the Future

The most exciting conversation of the day came from Sway Mobility, currently piloting remote-driven EV repositioning in Detroit.

How it works:

  • Cars in Detroit are remotely driven by trained tele-operators in Pittsburgh.
  • Vehicles are moved to charging depots at night and repositioned for customers during the day.
  • The system uses multiple camera feeds, steering-wheel hardware, pedals, and a gaming-style console.

Why it matters:

  • Reduces underutilization
  • Eliminates the need for chargers at every station
  • Supports specialty vehicles like WAVs (wheelchair-accessible vehicles)
  • Opens up new opportunities for rural carshare access

Regulations:

Tele-operations fall under Michigan’s AV (Autonomous Vehicle) regulations and local city permitting.

Operators expressed high interest in a future CSA webinar dedicated to this topic.

Collaboration Across Regions & Shared Platforms

A standout example this month came from ZEV Co-op and MioCar:

  • Both operate on Good Travel Software (GTS)
  • They assist each other with after-hours emergency support
  • Their systems allow cross-region access for members
  • Shared backend knowledge reduces consulting costs and accelerates solutions

This sparked broader conversation around shared technology ecosystems and their value for smaller CSOs.

Insurance: Rising Costs & the Possibility of a Group Captive

Insurance remains one of the largest and most complex cost centres.

Operators highlighted:

  • High liability coverage requirements
  • Limited insurer options in many jurisdictions
  • Some CSOs (like EVO) partially self-insure for collision/comprehensive
  • Others struggle especially with liability in the U.S. and certain Canadian provinces

The CSA is exploring whether a group captive insurance model could provide:

  • Better rates through pooled scale
  • Coverage tailored to carsharing
  • Stability in an unpredictable market

Members expressed interest in a dedicated webinar early 2026.

CSA 2026 Conference Announcement

Pam officially announced:

📍 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
 📅 Dates: October 5–6, 2026
 🎯 Focus: Co-designing a program with CSOs at the centre

Members are invited to submit:

  • Session ideas
  • Challenge topics
  • Themes they want represented
  • Justification points they need to convince leadership to attend

More details will be released shortly.