Shared Cars and Mobile Toilets

The claim that shared cars are called 'mobile toilets' stems from the uncivilized behavior of some users, but it is not the main reason for the industry's decline.

Shared cars were once jokingly referred to as 'mobile toilets' due to the uncivilized behavior of a minority of users. Specifically, some users, for convenience, would directly relieve themselves in the car, causing foul odors to permeate the cabin and even leading to the discovery of excrement in the trunk. While these behaviors have raised public concerns about the hygiene of shared cars, they are merely superficial manifestations of industry problems and not the core factors contributing to its decline.

The core reasons for the decline of the shared car industry can be summarized as follows:
1. Heavy asset model leads to high operating costs
Shared cars are a typical heavy asset industry, requiring the bearing of full-chain costs such as vehicle purchase, depreciation, insurance, maintenance, scheduling, cleaning, and charging station配套 (supporting facilities). For example, the annual maintenance cost of a single car may exceed tens of thousands of yuan, while the usage fees paid by users (such as hourly billing) are difficult to cover these costs, resulting in long-term losses for enterprises.

2. Technical bottlenecks of new energy vehicles limit usage scenarios
Early shared cars were mainly new energy vehicles, but limited by battery technology, their driving ranges were generally short (usually less than 200 kilometers), and charging stations were sparsely distributed. Users often faced the dilemma of 'easy to find cars but difficult to charge', especially in remote areas or during peak hours, significantly reducing vehicle availability.

3. Tension between limited parking resources and operational model
Shared cars emphasize 'park anywhere and go anytime', but urban parking resources are limited, especially in hot spots such as business districts and residential areas, where parking difficulties are prominent. Enterprises need to invest significant resources in coordinating parking spaces and even pay high parking fees, further driving up operating costs.

4. Uncivilized user behavior increases maintenance pressure
In addition to relieving themselves in the car, some users engage in rough driving and dismantle in-car components (such as charging cables and seat belt buckles), leading to an increased vehicle damage rate. For example, statistics from one enterprise show that about 30% of its fleet requires frequent repairs due to improper user operation, indirectly driving up operating costs.

The combination of these factors has led to broken capital chains, aging vehicles, and reduced services for shared car enterprises, ultimately forming a vicious cycle of 'user loss - revenue decline - cost reduction difficulties' and accelerating the industry's decline.