Approximately 320 blue and white electrical cars are starting to make appearances throughout San Diego. These tiny, two-passenger, fully electric vehicles are available to anyone with a driver’s license.

Car2go has set up shops in areas all around the world, including Canada, Germany and Austria. The company’s mission is to establish an entirely new means of transportation, one that is both economically and ecologically friendly.

San Diego State student Jessica LaFontaine used car2go for two weeks, after her car broke down.LaFontaine said she couldn’t afford to rent a regular car and only needed to drive a few hours during the day. LaFontaine said through car2go, she spent $8 roundtrip driving to her job in Downtown and had no wait time, compared to the $5 day pass she would buy for the hour long trip via trolley.

“A lot of people who don’t have cars, I recommend them to use car2go,” LaFontaine said.

Car2go vehicles can be found anywhere within the service area. After paying a $35 start up fee, members receive a swipe card to open and activate the car.

There is a smartphone applica- tion to help locate nearby car2go vehicles.“The longest I’ve had to walk to get to a car was maybe 10 minutes,” LaFontaine said.

This new electric car service has its merits, but when the electrical storms hit San Diego last week, the car2go company went out of service. Lightning caused the member ID card to deactivate and as a result, some members could not start their car2go vehicles.

No one was harmed because of the deactivation of the membership card.

Even after this glitch, LaFontaine said she would gladly use the cars again and recommends students who don’t have a car or are short on cash to consider this ecological option.