Does Renting Out Your Tesla Make Sense?

Clean Technica contributor Jeff Cohen claims to have found a way to own a Tesla Motors Inc TSLA Model S for three years and actually turn a profit. Cohen was originally in the market to buy a pre-owned Model S, but after shopping around, he decided he would go a different route.

“After a year of looking at second-owned Tesla Model S purchase opportunities online, I decided to create my own 3-year-old Tesla and give people who want to drive one for longer than a test drive the opportunity to help me fund it,” Cohen explains.

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He included the following expense chart to show how he expects to be able to turn a modest profit after three years.


After the up-front $84,470 cost of buying a brand new 2015 Tesla Model S 60, Cohen gets $12,500 in federal and state tax credits. In addition, by setting up a LLC car rental business, he also gets $11,300 in IRS business use depreciation because the vehicle is owned for business use.

Finally, after adding in $24,000 in rental fees for the three year ownership period and a projected $42,235 resale value, Cohen expects to come out on top by more than $2,000 when everything is said and done.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.