This EV Rental Company Hopes to Build Revenue and Expand Its Segment One Step at a Time

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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.

The largest journeys can often begin with small steps.

New York City-based rental car startup, Joulez, knows that, and while it is starting small, it is aiming high in what is currently a niche market — the rental of electric vehicles (EVs).

It may be niche right now but, according to Joulez, the overall vehicle rental market is expected to be worth about $214 billion by 2027, and it is counting on younger demographics driving up demand for greener vehicles as part of that growth.

The company is the brainchild of Micah Bergdale, founder of mass transit payment solutions company, Bytemark, now owned by Siemens AG SIEGY. It took delivery of its first Tesla Inc. TSLA vehicle Sept. 21 and has since acquired more. Joulez also has open orders to add Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN and Lucid Group Inc. LCID vehicles to its fleet in 2022.

As well as uniquely focusing on the EV rental market — the sector makes up less than 1% of the current rental market — Joulez is also counting on superior customer service to help get more customers in and up its revenue.

That’s because many potential customers want to try EVs but might not have the knowledge required to enjoy the rental experience, and Joulez wants to be there every step of the way to ensure the experience is enjoyable for every customer. Such service includes delivering the vehicle to the customer, which avoids the dreaded waiting-in-line rental car experience, and providing video interaction during the rental to ensure any potential problems will be dealt with. 

Making Money in a Competitive Market?

With major rental companies such as Avis Budget Group Inc. CAR and Hertz Corp. HTZWW recently announcing they will focus more on the EV rental market, the challenge for a new entrant to gain a significant foothold and generate healthy revenue might be a steep one.

One way Joulez is hoping to build such revenue is to not just offer its own fleet for rental. It is also developing a software platform to partner with 3rd party-owned EVs and rent them for a management fee, similar to how SuperHosts manage fleets on platforms like Turo. Joulez has set up EV charging accounts with Blink Charging Co. BLNK in addition to utilizing Tesla SuperChargers to help expand access to charging for EV renters.

The company is also planning to rely on what it sees as a healthier resale value of EVs. Such resales have outperformed those of regular gasoline-powered vehicles and are expected to continue to do so, Joulez says.

Such resales will build revenue and retain asset value while helping finance the company’s expansion plans.

Joulez cars can already be seen on the streets of New York City. The company is aiming to expand across the United States and Canada before eventually exploring other international opportunities.

Joulez, which is running a crowdfunding investment campaign on StartEngine, says it is renting its vehicles for an average of about $175 per day. It has various rental revenue rates depending on the length of time a vehicle is rented.

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.

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