The experience is the essence of the Zipcar car-sharing service, which is making its play for the mainstream by stressing economic and lifestyle impact over environmental impact. The author reserved a BMW Group Mini Cooper online at a car lot in San Francisco, where he simply had to swipe his card across the windshield to get in and drive away. According to Scott Griffith, Zipcars CEO, 40 percent of Zipcars customers either sell their car or halt a purchasing decision of a car. The 48-year-old Griffith has spent the last decade laying the groundwork for the moment when the question Would I really get rid of my car? does not sound so crazy. Late in 2007, Zipcar merged with Flexcar to become the emerging industrys dominant player. The combined company has 180,000 members who pay to access cars in 50 cities in the U.S. and the U.K., and is expected to reach $100 million in revenue in 2008. Zipcar is now ready to shift into second gear by driving toward an IPO, 2 million customers, and $1 billion in annual revenue. High oil prices and environmental concerns should smooth its path, yet despite Zipcars mission to take cars off the road, its bid for the mainstream soft-sells the green benefit in favor of the total experience. Zipcar is available on 70 college campuses and has plans for expansion to additional colleges. Griffith attracts universities to provide him with prime campus parking spaces as a money-saving hedge against having to build more parking structures. Nearly half of Zipcars college customers move to a major metropolitan area that Zipcar serves or plans to serve, and many of those customers continue their membership. Zipcar has adopted a convenient set-it-and-forget-it model while other companies wrap themselves in green with every modest, earth-friendly nod.