Forbes. The Wall Street Journal & Car Sharing.

The GIG Economy. That term came up during a recent lunch I had with a former GE colleague. After I got the download on how architects and electrical engineers specify electrical components – EV charging stations in particular – in new building construction (I recently joined ChargePoint – the #1 provider of electric vehicle charging stations ChargePoint from GE), our conversation turned to how I had largely funded my own ‘pre-owned’ Tesla Model S through a combination of tax credits (Federal and the now defunct Georgia income tax credits), rental income through a platform called “TURO” and applying IRS luxury car business use depreciation schedule and setting up an LLC (GeorgiaEVentures LLC).

By my calculations, I slashed over $35,000 off the cost of my 2015 Tesla Model S60 (sticker price of $84,700) gently guiding it down to its value as a 2 year old 22,000 mile Tesla according to KBB.com. Goal accomplished.  A year ahead of schedule.

Mike, my GE colleague, was impressed and asked me to send him some information about how I pulled this off. Well, thanks to Turo’s success, they attracted the attention of two global powerhouse publications: Forbes and The Wall Street Journal and my story got told.

Forbes focused their story on how two new car owners have largely funded the purchase of their high end vehicles through renting their cars out on Turo.  One of those owners is your very own AtlantaEVDC Blog Editor.  The writer did a really good job capturing the details about helping to fund a car like a Tesla Model S through TURO. Here’s the link to the Forbes article: Turo’s ‘Airbnb For Car Owners’ Helps Consumers Pay Off Auto Loans Faster.

The Wall Street Journal story focused on the emerging impact of car-sharing and ride sharing services as well as autonomous driving on car ownership. Using a similar story-line, my experience using Turo to partially fund my Tesla Model S was presented. The Wall Street Journal also provided some commentary about my interest in self-driving cars (Baby Boomer) versus my younger son (Millenial) and co-founder of this blog:

Mr. Cohen, after spending about two years renting out his Model S on Turo, has begun to wind down that effort. “At almost exactly the second anniversary of that note, I paid off my Tesla,” he says. He’s keeping an eye on Tesla’s ambitions for renting out autonomous vehicles, though he is dubious about giving up the thrill of driving. “For me, autonomous driving is not something I am looking forward to,” he said, “but I can tell you that my 25-year-old son and recent UVA Law School graduate certainly is.”

Here’s the link to the full story:  The End of Car Ownership

Photo Credit:  Steven Goldberg.