Tesloop Is Back on the Road
The one-way city-to-city service, which allows consumers to rent a seat in a Tesla, has relaunched with service between Santa Monica and San Diego. The company has also introduced a program to allow Tesla owners to rent them on the Tesloop platform.
Founded in July 2015 by then-16-year-old Haydn Sonnad, Culver City-based Tesloop offers shared rides between cities in Tesla’s all-electric, semi-autonomous vehicles.
Photo via Tesloop.
Tesloop, a California based startup, is launching its new city-to-city one-way rental service for Tesla vehicles between Santa Monica and San Diego. Tesloop had suspended its service in September.
The service offers renters a seat in a Tesla S or Tesla 3 sedan, or Tesla X SUV, for $39 to $79 for a one-way trip, with fuel included.
The service is designed for transit between cities located 100 to 250 miles apart and is optimized to use Tesla’s “Autopilot” feature.
“The most logical way to use electric vehicles for mobility is on long-distance routes,” said Tesloop founder, Haydn Sonnad. “The economics of electric vehicles, while interesting for city driving, are much more compelling on the highway. … “Our company has demonstrated that Tesla’s can be operated past 500,000 miles with very low maintenance and fuel costs.”
Tesloop is also launching a financial service complementary to city-to-city rentals, called the Tesla Vehicle Investment Program (VIP).
The program allows individuals to purchase Tesla vehicles and rent them on the Tesloop platform for use in the rental fleet. This allows owners to cover a portion or all of their investment in their Tesla.
The service is designed to one day complement Elon Musk’s vision for a robotaxi service, according to Sonnad.
“If Tesla delivers on its goal of fully robotaxi enabled vehicles, a $4,000 down-payment on a Model 3 today may net you up to $178,000 tax free - in some cases - within 3 years.”
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