Your next Uber ride might be Tesla.
Thanks to a new agreement between the ride-hailing app and Hertz, Uber drivers will be able to rent Teslas — an appealing alternative to buying or leasing them — beginning on November 1.
As part of a deal to supply Uber drivers with electric vehicles, Hertz ordered 100,000 Tesla Model 3s, a mid-sized four-door sedan. The enormous order, placed on Monday, caused Tesla's valuation to spike past $1 trillion (a cushy deal for El*n M*sk).
The deal is part of an effort to transition to more eco-friendly modes of transportation. "Now is the time to drive a green recovery from the pandemic,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg.
The rental car company will open its Tesla rental program to Uber drivers who have at least a 4.7-star rating and 150 trips. The starting rate for Model 3s will be $334 per week (not including recharging and incidental damage), and will eventually drop to $299.
Drivers will not be able to turn on Tesla's autopilot feature — a relief, considering the number of crashes linked to the handsfree system.
Users in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., will be the first to experience Uber's Tesla rides. The feature will roll out nationwide in the coming weeks.
Though it's not totally clear how the option to hail a Tesla will manifest in-app, users will most likely be able to request the vehicles in a similar fashion to Uber's other ride options, such as UberXL or Uber Black.
Welcome to an entirely new way to flex: ordering a Tesla on demand.
