WhizzGo was a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

car rental A car rental, hire car or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time to the public, generally ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. It is often organized with numerous local branches (which allow a user to ...

company that provided a pay-by-the-hour car rental service in cities across the UK. Pay-by-the-hour cars were provided for an hourly price which included insurance, tax, fuel, maintenance and the

Congestion Charge Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, tele ...

for London cars. In 2007, WhizzGo won ''Best Leasing/rental company of the year'', and ''Private Sector Fleet of the year'', in the GreenFleet awards. On 28 August 2009, WhizzGo was acquired by

City Car Club Enterprise Car Club (formerly City Car Club) is a British car club operator. Established as CityCarClub in 2000, it was acquired by the American company Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 2015, and renamed Enterprise Car Club in 2016. It now has 1,400 v ...

creating the UK's largest network of hourly rental cars. The WhizzGo name was dropped soon after.

The concept

WhizzGo provided a citywide fleet of low emission

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

cars that were located in designated on-street bays across city centres. WhizzGo offered an "environmentally sustainable service", reducing pollution and congestion by encouraging sustainable transport options so members take fewer car trips and walk, cycle or use public transport more, educating members on green driving tips and

carbon offsetting A carbon offset is a reduction or removal of emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Offsets are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e). One ton of carbon ...

. Through its expansion, WhizzGo had partnered with

Virgin Trains West Coast Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from ...

, public transport operators (such as

West Yorkshire Metro Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yor ...

and

Stagecoach Manchester Stagecoach ManchesterCompanies House extract company no 2818654

) and Dahon foldable bikes. WhizzGo had also developed through partnerships with several city councils nationwide such as

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

. A joining fee of £25 plus an insurance deposit of £125 was required to join the scheme. Members paid a monthly membership fee of £5 and then can pay-as-they-go by the hour or day. Members were issued with a ''WhizzGo smart card'' which was held against a sensor in the windscreen of the vehicle to unlock the doors. Members entered their 4 digit PIN into the on-board computer, took the keys from the glove compartment and drove off.

Acquisition by City Car Club

On 28 August 2009, WhizzGo was acquired by

creating the UK's largest network of hourly rental cars. The acquisition marked the first major consolidation within the UK car club industry and secured City Car Club a leading position - with 500 cars in 15 cities and a membership base of 16,000. In November 2009, CityCarClub announced it would be closing some locations; for example, the closure of the St Albans location and new owners could not be found.

References

{{Vehicle rental brands Carsharing Transport companies established in 2004 Transport companies disestablished in 2009 Defunct transport companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 2004 British companies disestablished in 2009