You all know by now how a lot the CleanTechnica workforce LOVES electrical autos. So after we headed to Austin, TX, final month for a workforce retreat (and the Electrify Expo occasion – North America’s largest electrical automobile pageant), we couldn’t drive round simply any rental automobile. It needed to be an EV. Fortunately our pals at UFODRIVE hooked us up with a Tesla for the weekend*.
After years of getting it proper in Europe, UFODRIVE is a global firm getting traction within the US as the primary all-digital, all-electric automobile rental firm. We had been thrilled to offer it a whirl in Austin and whirl we did.
Picture courtesy UFODRIVE.
CleanTechnica’s founder, Scott Cooney, and our CEO, Zach Shahan, each know Teslas inside an out, as seasoned Tesla (and different EV) homeowners. They every not too long ago printed their respective three-year critiques of Tesla possession (try Scott’s right here and Zach’s right here). So we weren’t first-time EV drivers, however quite, first time EV rental automobile customers.
The App
We downloaded the UFODRIVE app, which is required to order, choose up, drop off, unlock, and drive the EVs. The method of getting registered on the app was comparatively painless, although they do require a number of types of ID and proof of tackle, so give your self a bit of time to get that arrange. Although as soon as the account has been created and validated (the validation half was tremendous fast), utilizing the app itself is a breeze. UFODRIVE is on the market 24/7 and you may swiftly and simply make reservations straight via the app in just some minutes. No extra coping with these lengthy strains on the rental automobile counter nor the piled up paperwork. Rental automobile customers rejoice!
We struggled a bit to search out the pick-up location, although we had been in a position to shortly get a dwell individual on the UFODRIVE customer support line who was pleasant and very useful in getting us to the automobile. We situated the Tesla (branded wildly with UFODRIVE logos, we had been amused to see), unlocked the automobile with no difficulty, and received on the highway in minutes. There have been nice notifications and reminders alongside the way in which from the app, like when the automobile’s charging degree was low.
The Expertise
Picture courtesy UFODRIVE.
We had some hassle with the Tesla driver settings off the bat, because the seat positioning, steering wheel angle, and so forth., had been all programed not directly that irrespective of how we moved the seat round and saved driver settings, the settings would default to the programming and transfer the seat and steering wheel again routinely. Even the Tesla consultants within the group couldn’t work out how one can override this programming, so there have been a couple of profanities muttered every time somebody received within the driver’s seat.
Except for that, the Tesla driving expertise was identical to that with every other Tesla Mannequin 3: zippy, quick as hell, snug, responsive, zero emissions, and nil have to cease at a fuel station. Finally you possibly can lease an electrical automobile (!!!), fully digitally, with out the headache of rental automobile counters, with out worrying about filling the tank whenever you return it, and – we’ll say it once more – with out emissions!
One difficulty we did expertise was that the realm of city we occurred to be staying in had fairly crappy cellular phone service. This meant the UFODRIVE app was typically sluggish or didn’t work in any respect, which is problematic, as you want the app to be on-line so as to unlock and drive the EV. We thought maybe a key card left contained in the automobile when you choose up the rental could be sensible for the instances that cell service is a problem, so you possibly can unlock and drive the automobile with out using the app. Although we all know UFODRIVE is comparatively new in america, so these types of kinks will get labored out alongside the way in which.
Charging
UFODRIVE supplies a charging card, so that you don’t pay a dime for charging, and the app has a characteristic that can assist you find related charging stations close by. For some motive, we couldn’t get the charging card to work at a public charging station (undoubtedly may have been consumer error in that case), however in a while, we discovered a Tesla supercharging station utilizing the app’s charger locator characteristic and had been in a position to cost up (so quick!) with no drawback.
Last Ideas
Total, we had a blast with our UFODRIVE electrical automobile. We even turned some heads on the Electrify Expo, which may have been because of the bombastic UFODRIVE branding on the automobile, however we prefer to suppose individuals had been excited to see an electrical rental automobile. It was enjoyable to listen to the CleanTechnica workforce wax poetic about EVs and their experiences driving electrical over time, as we zipped round Austin in our rented Tesla. The UFODRIVE employees, from begin to end, had been pleasant, useful, responsive, and went out of their manner to make sure we had an amazing expertise renting an EV. The app is simple to make use of, intuitive, and made reserving and driving easy.
The subsequent time we’re in want of a rental automobile in an UFODRIVE metropolis, we’ll be throughout it. We are able to’t anticipate UFODRIVE to increase within the US and internationally so everybody can lease an EV when wanted. Test to see if UFODRIVE is in your metropolis right here.
*UFODrive supplied the CleanTechnica workforce a rental EV freed from cost throughout our keep in Austin.
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