You all know by now how a lot the CleanTechnica workforce LOVES electrical autos. So once we headed to Austin, TX, final month for a workforce retreat (and the Electrify Expo occasion – North America’s largest electrical automobile competition), we couldn’t drive round simply any rental automobile. It needed to be an EV. Fortunately our mates at UFODRIVE hooked us up with a Tesla for the weekend*.

After years of getting it proper in Europe, UFODRIVE is a world firm getting traction within the US as the primary all-digital, all-electric automobile rental firm. We had been thrilled to provide it a whirl in Austin and whirl we did.

Picture courtesy UFODRIVE.

CleanTechnica’s founder, Scott Cooney, and our CEO, Zach Shahan, each know Teslas inside an out, as seasoned Tesla (and different EV) homeowners. They every lately printed their respective three-year critiques of Tesla possession (take a look at Scott’s right here and Zach’s right here). So we weren’t first-time EV drivers, however somewhat, first time EV rental automobile customers.

The App

We downloaded the UFODRIVE app, which is required to order, choose up, drop off, unlock, and drive the EVs. The method of getting registered on the app was comparatively painless, although they do require a number of types of ID and proof of deal with, so give your self somewhat time to get that arrange. Although as soon as the account has been created and validated (the validation half was tremendous fast), utilizing the app itself is a breeze. UFODRIVE is accessible 24/7 and you may swiftly and simply make reservations immediately by way of the app in only a few minutes. No extra coping with these lengthy strains on the rental automobile counter nor the piled up paperwork. Rental automobile customers rejoice!

We struggled a bit to search out the pick-up location, although we had been capable of rapidly get a stay particular person on the UFODRIVE customer support line who was pleasant and very useful in getting us to the automobile. We situated the Tesla (branded wildly with UFODRIVE logos, we had been amused to see), unlocked the automobile with no difficulty, and bought on the highway in minutes. There have been nice notifications and reminders alongside the best way from the app, like when the automobile’s charging stage was low.

The Expertise

Picture courtesy UFODRIVE.

We had some hassle with the Tesla driver settings off the bat, because the seat positioning, steering wheel angle, and so on., had been all programed indirectly that regardless of how we moved the seat round and saved driver settings, the settings would default to the programming and transfer the seat and steering wheel again routinely. Even the Tesla specialists within the group couldn’t determine how you can override this programming, so there have been just a few profanities muttered every time somebody bought within the driver’s seat.

Except for that, the Tesla driving expertise was similar to that with every other Tesla Mannequin 3: zippy, quick as hell, snug, responsive, zero emissions, and 0 must cease at a gasoline station. Finally you possibly can lease an electrical automobile (!!!), fully digitally, with out the headache of rental automobile counters, with out worrying about filling the tank whenever you return it, and – we’ll say it once more – with out emissions!

One difficulty we did expertise was that the realm of city we occurred to be staying in had fairly crappy mobile phone service. This meant the UFODRIVE app was usually gradual or didn’t work in any respect, which is problematic, as you want the app to be on-line as a way to unlock and drive the EV. We thought maybe a key card left contained in the automobile when you choose up the rental can be good for the occasions that cell service is a problem, so you possibly can unlock and drive the automobile with out the usage of the app. Although we all know UFODRIVE is comparatively new in america, so these kinds of kinks will get labored out alongside the best way.

Charging

UFODRIVE gives a charging card, so that you don’t pay a dime for charging, and the app has a function that can assist you find related charging stations close by. For some motive, we couldn’t get the charging card to work at a public charging station (positively might have been consumer error in that case), however afterward, we discovered a Tesla supercharging station utilizing the app’s charger locator function and had been capable of cost up (so quick!) with no drawback.

Closing Ideas

Total, we had a blast with our UFODRIVE electrical automobile. We even turned some heads on the Electrify Expo, which might have been as a result of bombastic UFODRIVE branding on the automobile, however we wish to suppose individuals had been excited to see an electrical rental automobile. It was enjoyable to listen to the CleanTechnica workforce wax poetic about EVs and their experiences driving electrical through the years, as we zipped round Austin in our rented Tesla. The UFODRIVE workers, from begin to end, had been pleasant, useful, responsive, and went out of their method to make sure we had an important expertise renting an EV. The app is simple to make use of, intuitive, and made reserving and driving easy.

The subsequent time we’re in want of a rental automobile in an UFODRIVE metropolis, we’ll be throughout it. We are able to’t look ahead to UFODRIVE to broaden within the US and internationally so everybody can lease an EV when wanted. Verify to see if UFODRIVE is in your metropolis right here.

*UFODrive supplied the CleanTechnica workforce a rental EV freed from cost throughout our keep in Austin. 

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