Ufodrive, a European electric-vehicle rental company, has landed in Miami with a fleet of Teslas and other models for rent.
The car company recently launched locations in Brickell and Wynwood, where customers can pick up a fleet of about 20 cars 24 hours a day. A third Miami pickup location is set to open soon.
According to Edmund Read, the company’s chief operating officer, an app allows customers to reserve and pay for cars without interacting with Ufodrive employees.
What differentiates this from everyone is in the app. In less than two minutes, you can make booking
Edmund Read, Chief Operating Officer of Ufodrive stated on Ufodrive’s uniqueness
McClean believes EVs are suitable for Miami
Drivers must be at least 18 to rent the electric cars and return them to the corresponding Miami pickup locations.
The daily rate begins at $41, which includes charging and insurance. After driving 150 miles daily, you must pay an additional $25 for every 100 miles.
Aidan McClean, CEO of Ufodrive, was inspired to start the electric-vehicle rental company a decade ago by his love of the environment.
McClean, who lives in Luxembourg, has ridden his bike across Europe and the United States. The difference in air quality was something he noticed wherever he went.
I was really passionate about the air we breathe, I’m a lifelong cyclist and spent a lot of time breathing in air. Is there any way I can help [improve air quality]? With the rise of Tesla and the rebirth of electric vehicles, I saw this was going to turn into a revolution and wanted to know how we could become a part of that
Aidan McClean, CEO of Ufodrive stated on Ufodrive inspiration
McClean believes that an electric-vehicle rental service would be ideal for Miami. He believes Ufodrive can supplement the city transit options in a city still developing its public transportation infrastructure.
He claims that Miami, like other major American cities, needs to catch up to the global adoption of electric vehicles.
Take Europe for a second, Europe has been two to three years ahead in charging infrastructure. With [President Joe] Biden’s latest infrastructure bill, Miami will be no exception. It’s a big city with residents condensed along the beach area. People in Miami don’t necessarily need to own vehicles
Aidan McClean, CEO of Ufodrive stated on entering Miami
The Ufodrive rental
The electric rental car company has begun operations in New York, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston, with plans to expand to every major U.S. city by the end of this year.
The company has rental locations in the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain.
Ufodrive provides its contactless rental technology to companies such as Hertz and Uber to better integrate other rental car operators into using electric vehicles.
Still, the mass adoption of electric vehicles in Florida and the United States is a work in progress.
The need for charging stations is a source of concern for electric vehicle critics. To alleviate “range anxiety,” “car renters are given real-time assistance and details on nearby charging points.
With access to “all-you-can-eat electricity,” he said the company takes pride in providing 20 million miles of travel without customer charging issues.
Following in the footsteps of automobile history, McClean predicts that the issue of access to electric-charging stations will gradually fade away.
When the first petrol cars came out at the turn of the 1900s, there were no gas stations, The reality was within 20 years, the entire country had been paved with drivable roads and there were gas stations within miles
Aidan McClean, CEO of Ufodrive stated on vehicle electrification
