You can now casually borrow a Tesla Model 3 from a hotel on the Gold Coast through an app called Outbound.
A startup on the Gold Coast is allowing hotel-goers to borrow said Tesla Model 3 for as much as $30 per hour.
It’s doing this through shared mobility, a relatively new concept that has been kind-of floating around for the past few years. It’s one of those things that we might actually see becoming a part of our day-to-day lives.
It’s a bit different to simply borrowing a car from, say, Europcar or Hertz. Shared mobility is a little bit more simpler and, well, more of a casual arrangement, kind of like borrowing a single car for an entire share house. In this circumstance, we’re talking about sharing one Tesla Model 3 among an entire hotel for $30 per hour (plus insurance and power costs). Huh, that sounds like a metaphor for the current EV supply shortage in Australia.
It’s not something that’s new new in Australia, but in this specific example, it’s a bit of a first. You might know of Go Get or Car Next Door, which let you borrow cars from individuals who list their cars on their chosen service. That’s a similar concept, but Outbound’s service focuses on EVs, with its first listing being from a hotel. Outbound is a Gold Coast-based startup that operates the booking app of the same name. In partnership with the hotel that it’s working with, Mantra at Sharks in Southport, the Tesla Model 3 is now treated as an amenity by the hotel.
That means that anyone in the hotel has access to the car and can book it through the Outbound app.
“It’s really handy for anyone wanting to go for a day trip, say to the theme parks or out to Hinterland,” says Luke Rust, the CEO of Outbound.
“The app is really easy to use – guests just sign up, reserve the car and unlock it using their phone.”
While I appreciate the idea, the convenience and the ease-of-use this app appears to provide, keep in mind that we’re only talking about one Tesla Model 3 here. For an entire hotel. What Rust says about wanting to go on a day trip? Yeah, only one person (or couple or group of people) can do that at a time right now.
But look, it’s early days and obviously this app has grander scope in mind than a single hotel. It’ll be exciting to see how it evolves over time.
The hotel better be keeping that thing clean. I’ve seen some pretty gross hotels in my life and don’t want to see a Tesla Model 3 like that.
Anyway, as you were.