Electric Vehicle to Rent? There's an App for That

Picture Credit: Chuttersnap on Unsplash

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular all over the world, especially in the United States, but when it comes to renting one, they still can be difficult to find.

Joulez, a New York City-based EV Rental startup, wants to change all that. The company calculates that as younger populations — think Millennials and GenZ — become an ever bigger consumer demographic and older populations begin to shift their environmental perspectives, they will demand greener vehicles to accompany their vacation plans or business rentals.

Sensing the trend, major rental car companies like Avis Budget Group Inc. CAR have already dipped their toes into the EV market. Avis stock soared at the beginning of November when the company said it would be expanding its EV rental fleet, more than doubling in value to reach approximately $357.

That news followed reports that Hertz Corp. HTZ will buy 100,000 EVs from Tesla Inc. TSLA by the end of 2022.

Despite these early efforts in the car rental industry, Joulez leadership feels confident there is plenty of space in the $50B/yr US car rental market for a dedicated EV rental company as EVs only account for less than 1% of the car rental market (Data from TechNavio Market Research Report).

Is Customer Service the Future of EV rentals?

Joulez recognizes that some renters will have little knowledge of how EVs might work or where to locate charging stations. As a result, Joulez says it is beefing up its customer service by delivering cars directly to consumers and ensuring they have access to a knowledgeable and dedicated team at all times during the rental experience.

By delivering a car directly to a customer via an easy-to-use app, the company subsequently aims to cut out the dreaded waiting-in-line experience that can be typical in the car rental process such as in this instance that went viral recently. Plus, their process and infrastructure will enable Joulez to maintain competitive pricing for their EVs at—approximately $75 to $200 per day.

Joulez believes such customer focus will differentiate the company from others.

“There is a major gap in the market for a company that provides the kind of hands-on, quality customer experience that we offer, and we see the potential for Joulez to be a major leader in the EV rental space,” says company CEO, Micah Bergdale. “Drivers who have never driven an EV need an extra level of support, including some basic training and reassurance that the vehicle will work well for them.”

The company is also counting on what it sees as positive resale values for cars like Tesla and other EVs.

Good resale values of such vehicles will enable Joulez to finance its expansion, the company says. 

Electrifying The World’s Transportation

Starting in New York, Joulez aims to expand across the U.S. and Canada and eventually to countries outside North America.

The company acquired its first Tesla vehicle on September 21st and was able to test it with its first customers 2 days later.

The founding team at Joulez previously launched Bytemark Inc., a mobile software platform provider for mass transit now owned by Germany-based Siemens AG SIEGY.

Learn more about the current raise for Joulez via its StartEngine campaign here. 

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.