An app-based car rental service has launched its first Scottish location beside Edinburgh Airport - following two earlier failed attempts.
Virtuo's co-founder and chief executive at Karim Kaddoura told Insider that the start-up trialled its service in the capital in 2018, but it has taken until now to officially launch at the airport's nearby NCP car park.
The business lets customers book and unlock a range of cars to be rented, aiming to avoid queues or paperwork. It launched in the UK in the summer of 2018 and offers a range of vehicles, including Volkswagen, Mercedes and Tesla.
The Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020 threw the first spanner in the works, delaying a planned 2020 launch.
“Here we are, persistent, resilient and now witnessing an enormous demand,” said Kaddoura. “We can't keep up, so we're adding more cars.”
He continued: “When we look at this initial success of Edinburgh, we want to double down in the region.
“So what we're looking at Glasgow in 2023 and then by the end of next year we'll probably look at Aberdeen,” Kaddoura explained.
The service is used by a “mix of residents and tourists”, reaching the 150,000 active user mark last year, with expansion into 25 cities across four countries so far. The 200-employee business employs “independent operators” to clean, inspect and repair its cars.
Currently, at Edinburgh Airport customers are only able to use combustion engine vehicles, but Kaddoura said it plans to introduce electric alternatives in the coming months, with half of its entire fleet planning to be electric by 2025, with all cars making the switch five years after that.
He added that an agreement with NCP will see Virtuo being responsible for dealing with commitments in relation to charging stations, but the site operators also have plans to install more bays specifically for electric vehicles.
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