Lyft and General Motors are joining forces in launching a rental car program called Express Drive.
This short-term rental program caters to people who wish to drive for the ride-hail service but do not have the appropriate vehicles to do so.
With this car rental program, the drivers’ rental fees are going to be based on how many trips they can manage to complete.
If, for instance, they can finish 65 trips or more in one week, then they are not going to shell out any cash from their pockets. They will only have to shoulder their expenses on gas. Those who only complete less than 40 rides in a week will have to fork out $99.20 cents for every mile. Drivers who will do 40 or more rides will be paying $99 but they are excused from paying the mileage cost.
Initially, this program will be available in Chicago, in which 125 Chevy Equinox cars will be made available. This will then be pushed out in three more areas, including Boston, Baltimore and Washington.
Do note, however, that rented vehicles should be returned after eight weeks.
This rental program is going to be operated under GM's Maven car-sharing service, which will be paying for the upkeep and maintenance of the rental vehicles.
"We've now made car ownership optional on both sides of the market," John Zimmer, Lyft's cofounder, said in a press call on Monday. "Now, you don't need to own a vehicle to make money on the platform, or to give rides to passengers."
Zimmer said that in the four cities in which the service will be initially rolled out, 150,000 people applied to drive for Lyft. However, he said they were rejected because they don't have the suitable cars or they don't have one to use. Express Drive aims to solve this issue.
While the two companies have not disclosed the financial terms for this new venture, Julia Steyn, vice president of urban mobility for GM said that they are still assessing how big the rental program will be.
"[B]ut John and I are both hoping for solid financial results," she said.
Express Drive is the two companies' first joint service two months after GM revealed its $500 million investment in Lyft in an aim to develop a self-driving car system down the road.
