In Tight EV Market, Startup Offers Vehicle Subscriptions

As electric vehicles (EVs) become a more popular option, Autonomy, a California startup focused on EVs, is adding services to let people access the vehicles through subscriptions.

The subscription model would come with a starting fee of $5,900 start, Bloomberg reported Saturday (Aug. 13), followed by monthly costs of between $490 and $690 for up to 1,000 miles.

The company has thus been stocking up on EVs from many companies — including an announcement that it would be buying almost 23,000 cars from 17 automakers, including Ford, Polestar and Tesla. The idea is to be somewhere “between the Hertz rental counter and a three-year lease,” the report noted.

“We exist to expand the adoption of electric vehicles, and we don’t think you should be forced to accept expensive, long-term debt to drive one,” the company said, per Bloomberg.

The difficulty involved in securing an EV without a subscription service has increased, with delivery delays for new Teslas in Australia hitting around nine months, and used models selling for big premiums.

There are several incentives for new U.S. models, though there are also manufacturing limitations, making it so many machines will be exempt from the offers. A subscription model could be good for customers, due to the quickly-evolving tech that has seen EVs losing value faster than others.

Autonomy has made other adjustments as of late, including partnering with DigiSure, a Protection-as-a-Service company, to add embedded insurance for car subscriptions.

See also: Autonomy Partners With DigiSure to Offer Embedded Insurance for Car Subscriptions

PYMNTS wrote that this would let Autonomy digitally onboard, evaluate and qualify people for auto coverage.

“Being able to provide Autonomy subscribers with fully digital auto coverage that’s month to month, without them having to buy annual insurance, and is tailored to their needs is core to delivering on our promise of providing easy and affordable access to electric vehicles,” Autonomy Founder and CEO Scott Painter said at the time.