the South Korean car manufacturer announced the launch of Evolve+. The subscription program will allow users to rent an electric car for as low as $699 per month.
Insurance, maintenance, and 1,000 miles are included in the monthly fee, according to a news release.
Hyundai has launched a car subscription service for those considering a switch to an electric vehicle or those who just don’t want the commitment of leasing a car.
The South Korean car manufacturer announced the start of its Evolve+ electric vehicle subscription service at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show on Thursday.
The service is currently only available in six states although the company did not name them in the announcement.
A good plan so that a potential buyer can see how an EV would mesh with their lifestyle and determine how much of a hassle, if any, charging that vehicle would be.
Aye, there’s the rub. You can’t just leave the charger behind, and you have to get 220v into the garage, so there’s a lot of upfront cost. Can’t let people just cancel that after a month or two. And if you make them pay for it upfront, well, there’s your disincentive again, if people are “trying it” to see if they like it.
And putting a brand new car out there and allowing people to use it for a couple months and then taking it back, well, everything I’ve heard about “car depreciation” happens early. I’m sure these issues have been raised, but I’ll be interested to see if this plan works beyond the press release.
This could be aimed at the portion of the market that doesn’t have a place to charge at home - apartment dwellers, for example. For them to switch to EV, they’ll need to charge somewhere else. Buying an EV just to see if you can actually use it isn’t going to happen. But people may be willing to give it a try if they only have to commit to a month or two. It’s likely only going to be those who have a pretty good idea of where they will charge (those who can charge at work, perhaps).
For these people, the way to include charging would be to provide free (or low cost) charging at various public charging stations.
There are several ways to handle this, IMO.
First, you could have a minimum numbers of months, else you have to pay a portion of the charger costs.
Or you could install a 220v outlet in the garage that the charger plugs into and require the charger gets returned…maybe you enforce this or maybe not. Maybe a combination of the two.
I don’t think that “lots of people” would try to scam the offer just to get a free charger then go buy a different brand of EV
Neither do I. But a fair number would try it for a month or two and say “Nah” and go back to gas. Same result, stranded chargers. Not end of the world, but a lot of electrician time and costs blown too.
There are a number of EV subscription services available for a variety of cars. Autonomy is the largest nationally and caters to the Tesla crowd. They even provide a charging kit. https://www.autonomy.com