Myths and the Truth About the Innovative Sustainable Model of Car Sharing in Europe

In the time of the 4th Industrial Revolution was introduced the sustainable model of car sharing. People began to realise the costs of owning and suboptimal use of cars, real estate and other goods. Innovative companies have started to promote services based on an economy of sharing, which has led to a change in the culture of ownership of goods. The first applications of the sharing economy were observed in durable goods such as cars and housing. In this article, we will focus on the question of how successful a genuine car-sharing model is in Europe. According to theory, the car-sharing model provides an example of a sharing economy in which the starting point, rather than ownership of an asset, is access to a service, which makes better use of the shared asset and makes it much cheaper to use and accessible to a wider range of people. The theory also emphasises the role of car sharing in urban environments, as it provides a sustainable environmental solution in the context of car electrification. In this way, such a model ensures that no harmful emissions are produced, and the sustainable aspect of this car-sharing model is further underlined by the use of electricity from renewable sources. However, the question is what the gap between theory and practice is. What do the citizens of European conurbations think about this business model, and how successful is it? To this end, we will use an automated content analysis procedure to analyse publications in scientific journals, newspapers and magazines.