When Amy Brendmoen took the helm of HourCar this year as its interim chief executive officer, she found a promising nonprofit carsharing model struggling to be seen. There were too few cars and too much confusion over its services. Insurance costs had skyrocketed.

Then came a decision by the Trump administration to cancel a $560,000 federal grant intended to enable HourCar to add dozens of electric vehicles on St. Paul’s East Side, a service area that commercial carsharing companies like Car2Go and ZipCar mostly avoided before exiting the Twin Cities a decade ago.

HourCar, based on Prior Avenue in St. Paul, announced this month that it had installed an electric-vehicle charging hub at an affordable-housing development on the East Side anyway, testing a partnership strategy it hopes to see expand to more housing sites over the coming year.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” said Brendmoen, former president of the St. Paul City Council, during a recent ride-along.

HourCar drew national attention in 2022 when it joined with St. Paul and Minneapolis to debut the all-electric Evie Spot Network. While commercial carsharing is nothing new, the prospect of a nonprofit rolling out a fleet of municipally backed electric vehicles for public use across city borders represented a national first for an industry still trying to raise its profile as an alternative to car ownership.

Rather than return a traditional HourCar to a handful of designated drop-off hubs, the electric Evies can be left overnight at no cost at any legal parking spot within their service area, which covers most but not all of both cities. That includes most parking meters and dozens of Evie Spot charging stations.

Through agreements with both cities, the charging stations have been installed along parks and public sidewalks, and in commercial lots or housing developments through arrangements with private property owners. The Evie Spot fleet has gradually grown from 175 electric vehicles to nearly 300, adding 45 Chevy Equinox vehicles in recent weeks despite the loss of federal backing.

Targeting affordable housing

Among her goals, Brendmoen has sought to emphasize that HourCar and the Evie Spot Network compose one network offering two types of services, which has been a point of confusion for some prospective customers.

Other innovations include a redesigned website, updated mobile app and online price calculator for trip planning. New carshare hubs were announced this month at three affordable multi-family housing developments, including the Little Mod apartments near Otto Avenue and Shepard Road, and the Capital View Apartments on Old Hudson Road, both of which are in St. Paul.

In Minneapolis, there’s a new charging hub at Children’s Village Apartments on Franklin Avenue.

“This is a workforce solution,” Brendmoen said. “It allows someone to use a car while they’re saving up to buy a car.”

More hubs will be added over the next year at affordable housing developments, Brendmoen said, and despite the loss of federal dollars, HourCar remains committed to expanding Evie’s charging stations elsewhere on St. Paul’s East Side.

A larger fleet and service area will require more car maintenance. To that end, financial support from 3M Gives and the city of St. Paul’s Neighborhood STAR program is allowing HourCar to upgrade its East Side repair shop by adding a second mechanic bay, new equipment and a second full-time mechanic, facilitating more in-house repairs for cost savings.

Expansion plans

The HourCar board of directors hopes to add more partnerships over the next year, possibly including additional cities, transit agencies, building owners and community organizations. Hospitals could be a next frontier. Evies can be left overnight at most parking meters without a fee, exceptions include meters on the University of Minnesota campus, which still charge users for parking by the minute.

The U has taken the general approach that fewer cars on campus would be better, but Brendmoen is quick to point out that carsharing allows exactly that. Vehicle turnover on campus is brisk, allowing more students to live virtually car-free while knowing they have vehicle access when they need it, she said.

Brendmoen maintains the HourCar/Evie system is price-competitive with hailing an Uber, even after $7 monthly (or $84 annual) subscription rates that include up to 200 daily miles. Low-income student rates are as low as $1 monthly.

“An average car drives 5% of the time,” she said, during the Dec. 19 ride-along. “Our cars drive 30% of the time. At the U of M, they sit only 40 minutes. If they’re at the U campus, they move.”

In a written statement Friday, Brendmoen added that her team had since met with the transportation department at the U this month “to discuss how to better leverage HourCar and Evie to help the University reach its goal to reduce car traffic on campus and to reduce its climate impact. A shared vehicle gives students ability to run errands or take short trips without the cost or storage issues that come with owning a vehicle. We are excited to forge an even stronger partnership … as we expand.”

Clean energy grants canceled

This is a challenging time for clean energy advocacy, on multiple levels.

St. Paul had been counting on more than $560,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand the Evie network to low-to-moderate income areas on the city’s East Side. The funding was eliminated in October, along with more than $7.5 billion in grants for clean energy projects across 16 states, all of which were states that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

The city has joined the Environmental Defense Fund and other environmental and energy-oriented advocacy groups in suing the federal Department of Energy and Office of Management and Budget over the loss in funding, which is undercutting 321 clean energy projects across the country.

Meanwhile, consumer hesitancy toward electric vehicles in America likely stems from a variety of factors, ranging from price to questions about where to charge them, especially during long trips.

In the United States, electric vehicles account for just 10% of new car sales. Even combined, hybrid, electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles constitute about 20% of sales, a modest showing compared to some European countries where they now comprise the majority of new purchases.

In April 2024, the St. Paul City Council approved new requirements that future surface parking lots spanning at least 15 parking stalls be developed with conduit ready for EV charging stations.

The rules do not require the installation of the chargers themselves, in recognition that the technology will evolve with time, but that 80% of the stalls in residential lots be conduit-ready. In commercial lots, the requirement is limited to 20% of all stalls, given that most drivers will not be charging their cars in business lots overnight.

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