Minneapolis resident Eliza Meyer has been relying on the Evie Carshare network for the past five years or more. The land-use consultant primarily leases the hourly service for work trips and long distance travel. Without Evie, she said, she’ll have to say no to more opportunities in her field.

“This feels a little bit like a funeral, in addition to a rally,” said Meyer on Tuesday, as subscribers to the nonprofit HourCar and Evie car-sharing networks gathered around Minneapolis Government Plaza for a last-ditch plea to public and private backers.

The St. Paul-based HourCar organization announced last week that while it had received some donations, it was unable to close what had been a $1.1 million budget gap and would roll to a close on Thursday, capping 21 years in operaton. Its departure means that Evie, the electric car-sharing operation it ran on behalf of Minneapolis and St. Paul, is also now out of business.

The closure has left a slew of questions hanging overhead for both the organization and its many funders and partners. Will HourCar have to pay back federal grant dollars it planned to use this fall to expand more broadly into St. Paul’s East Side? Who owns its physical assets, including the wide network of municipally backed electric car-charging stations located throughout the two partner cities?

Evie Spot charging stations are owned and operated by the two cities, “so that service will continue,” said Amanda LaGrange, executive director of HourCar on Wednesday. “A big portion of that federal grant is supporting Evie Spot charging infrastructure, so that work continues on.”

Officials have spent much of the last week sorting details, even as some hold out hope that last-minute donations could save or eventually revive aspects of the car-sharing operation, including Evie Carshare, which drew national attention for its unique public-private operating model when it launched in early 2022.

Even after appealing to foundations, cities, counties, private sponsors and fellow nonprofits for donations, HourCar officials said last week they were still $625,000 short on their roughly $5 million budget.

LaGrange said conversations have at least quietly unfolded with local governments over the past year, and they haven’t ended.

“There’s still certainly hope for a revival, but we have to stay grounded in the financial reality,” said LaGrange, who became executive director of HourCar in May. “There’s things in motion, and work happening, but it’s a significant funding gap.”

Could Evie be revived?

Some public officials have said the nonprofit sounded its budget alarm too late in the budget season, but that with 5,000 HourCar and Evie subscribers, hope remains for Evie’s resurrection.

“We knew that there were problems but didn’t know that they were so dire and so immediate and so consequential,” said state Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, addressing rally-goers. “So my message to you is keep doing what you’re doing.”

State Rep. Katie Jones, who represents downtown Minneapolis, said she foresees a path forward.

“I see a lot of interest from people,” said Jones in an interview Wednesday. “I see that there is a path for standing it back up in the near term. … Everyone is talking about affordability. HourCar offers a 90% cost reduction to get access to a car. We can do this.”

Meyer said it was embarrassing for the Twin Cities to be consistently ranked one of the best biking cities in America but unable to hold onto a consistent bike-sharing or affordable car-sharing program.

Irais Resendez and Mathew Jerkins used Evie as a regular service in their daily lives — going to the grocery store, seeing friends and even for emergency trips to the hospital. During Operation Metro Surge, the couple would use the rideshare to transport them safely to protests.

“We currently can’t afford a car, and Uber’s too expensive, so Evie’s our main option,” Jerkins said.

Minneapolis City Council Member Soren Stevenson acknowledged the outlook for finding last-minute donations to HourCar was bleak, given Minneapolis’ difficult budget climate. Still, his outlook for the future remained positive. He said local and state partners concerned about losing Evie would work together to make sure the service can be revived and is financially sustainable into the future.

“This is a service that is vital for the people who use it, and this is a service that is vital for the people who live near people who use this,” Stevenson said.