Not everyone can afford a Tesla Model S, but if you had the opportunity to drive one whenever you wanted, that might be a pleasing alternative to ownership.
Startup Vukee Car hopes to offer a service that lets you do just that, and is crowd-funding to raise cash to offer Model S car-sharing.
ALSO SEE: Life With Tesla Model S: One Year And 15,00 Miles Later
The company, headquartered in Germany and the U.S, aims to raise $250,000 in funding to roll out services in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, with other cities in the pipeline.
Vukee has chosen the Model S for its exclusivity in the car-sharing market, a business worth $24 billion in the U.S. alone.
The company says it will be the "fastest and greenest service available". Anyone who hasn't driven a Model S before is "missing out", says co-founder of Vukee Car, Meik-M. Lindberg. "Vukee Car makes driving such an impressive car accessible and more importantly affordable."
Aside from the atypical choice of car, Vukee's sharing service operates in a similar fashion to other car-sharing services.
Potential renters register via the free iOS, Android or Windows mobile application, and scan their driver's license using the app for verification.
From there, it's simply a case of locating your nearest car and booking it. Once you've got to the car you can rate its condition (again via the app), unlock the car using the app, and then drive away.
DON'T MISS: Electric Scooter In A Briefcase: Would You Pay $6,000 For It?
There's no office to visit, no insurance to pay, and no charging fees to pay either. Both Blink and Tesla Superchargers are available under the service, and the mobile app provides a list of where all those stations are.
Better still, your rental time doesn't include charging time. So if you want an hour with the car, but need to charge after fifteen minutes, the time it's charging doesn't count towards your hour.
Vukee currently has 42 days left in its IndieGoGo campaign to raise $250,000 and it has a long way to go.
So if you live in one of the initially-planned cities and want to borrow a Model S now and then, why not pledge your support? I'll still cost you less than buying a whole Model S yourself...
_________________________________________
