Tesla unveils ride sharing scheme

Electric car maker to pool autonomous cars in ride sharing network

Motor & Fleet

By Allie Sanchez

Luxury automaker Tesla Motors revealed further details of its ride sharing service as it unveiled prices for vehicles with the necessary hardware to achieve full driving autonomy. However, the software has yet to catch up with the equipment, Tesla said.

The new models are set to cost $8,000, but Tesla announced owners can offset the amount by enrolling in a company managed ride sharing service, similar to Uber and Lyft.

Chief executive Elon Musk first outlined the service in his master plan in July.

 A disclaimer for the cars reads, “"Please note that using a self-driving Tesla for car sharing and ride hailing for friends and family is fine, but doing so for revenue purposes will only be permissible on the Tesla Network, details of which will be released next year."

While investors have been scrambling to pour dollars into such services, Barclay’s analyst Brian Johnson said that although a Tesla network could “excite the market” over its potential revenues, it is a costly undertaking.

"While we think ride-sharing/hailing is the future of mass-market mobility, we have some financial concerns with the idea of an OEM-owned fleet," Johnson stated.

Industry analysis revealed that venture capitalists and enterprises have invested nearly $30 billion into ride sharing services in the past decade.
 

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