Renault Is Building an Electric Car Just for Ride-Hailing Drivers
Serena Aburahma
· 4 min read
Ridesharing
services like Uber and Lyft have put easily available rides just a few taps away for users. This has revolutionized transportation, but up until now, cars used in ridesharing and traditional taxi services have not changed. Rideshare drivers have had to either use their existing car or purchase a new or used car for ride-share driving.
Renault is looking to change the market with a new rideshare-focused electric vehicle. According to
Autoweek
, the new vehicle will be called the Renault Mobilize Limo, and it will be an EV made specifically for rideshare drivers. Uniquely, it will be a subscription-based vehicle.
How will the subscription service work?
Owning a vehicle has previously been a prerequisite to being a rideshare driver or starting a taxi company. Even if you own a car, if it doesn't fit certain qualifications, it may not be able to be used for rideshare driving.
The Renault Mobilize Limo will change this dynamic by having vehicles exclusively available through a subscription service. The goal of this is to make accessing a vehicle easier than traditional ownership.
Limo vehicles will be marketed to interested rideshare drivers as well as taxi companies.
Currently, little is known about the details of how subscribing to use Mobilize Limo vehicles will work.
Car-sharing services like Turo
have made renting a regular car easier than before, but with a different audience, Renault will likely work differently.Let Jerry find your price in only 45 seconds
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Specs of the Renault Mobilize Limo
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Specific details on the Renault Mobilize Limo are limited, but it will be an all-electric sedan powered by a 60-kWh battery. With this, it is expected that the Limo will have a range of about 280 miles.
This is believed to be more than enough for a rideshare or taxi driver, and then it can be charged for the next day.
In terms of power, the Renault Limo will feature 150 horsepower and a top speed of 87 miles per hour. This won't set any speed records, but it will be able to handle in-town driving tasks.
Even though it will be made solely for rideshare and taxi drivers, the Renault Mobilize Limo will not include a driver partition. This will give the vehicle the appearance of a civilian vehicle rather than a taxi.
The anticipated release of the Renault Mobilize Limo
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Renault is expected to show off examples of the Mobilize Limo before the end of 2021. They will start with 40 test vehicles, and they will only be used in Europe for the time being.
This may be the first service of its type, but if it is a success other companies could follow in Renault's footsteps. Different technology for rideshare vehicles has been proposed and tested, but this has largely focused on self-driving rideshare cars.
However, there have been hiccups with self-driving car technology recently. This could give an advantage to a service like Renault's, which combines technological innovation with a human driver. Plus, it could also open up driving for rideshare services to more individuals.
With a few taps of a smartphone, we can now book a ride or rent a car easier than ever before.
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