Owning a car is no longer necessary, certainly in the city. You can travel by public transport, cycle, or hire a car when required. Hiring a car can be expensive as prices are often not favourable unless you decide to rent for several days/weeks at a time. Is there an alternative? Yes, car clubs are springing up across various cities through the world and we've been testing Zipcar.

What does Zipcar enable you to do? Instead of renting a car for an extended period of time and for a lot of money you can rent cars by the hour and mile instead. It’s a great alternative for people who rent cars frequently but over short distances, and also within your city.

What’s more is Zipcar offers the opportunity to rent a van should you need some more room, a perfect option if you’re moving to a new place in your city.  The cars and vans are parked throughout the city and have designated parking spaces and you’re able to see exactly where they are parked.

Once you’ve signed up the app is extremely easy to use. Upon opening the app shows your location and displays nearby cars which you are able to rent. Using the new feature, Zipcar flex you can easily select a car to rent there and then!

Simply select the car you want, set your hire time and Zipcar will give you the cost for the time you’ve designated. Then headed for your car. If you struggle to find the car you can hit ‘honk’ and the car’s horn will honk making it easy for you to find. You are also able to unlock the car using your phone, so really you don’t need anything else using the new Zipcar ‘flex’

The app is easy to use and the concept is great, if you live in a city with Zipcar, you can save a tonne by not getting a car and using Zipcar whenever you need a vehicle.