Lyft's GM Deal Takes Uber Battle Up a Notch
Technology has always had its epic face-offs: Microsoft vs. IBM, Microsoft vs. Apple, and now Apple vs. Google. And Samsung. And the federal regime. Ridesharing fifty-fifty has its own battle royale in the course of Uber vs. Lyft.
While Uber has the upper hand in terms of its crazy valuation ($62 billion to Lyft's paltry $5.5 billion), the reward could easily shift to Lyft since it has a powerful business organisation in General Motors, a potential provider of autonomous applied science. But before robo-taxis can go reality, the two ride-sharing rivals will yet depend on recruiting human drivers, and this requires those drivers to have cars people would want to ride in.
John Zimmer, Lyft's president and co-founder, said on a media conference phone call with GM this week that at that place are up to 150,000 people nationwide who desire to drive for Lyft but don't ain a vehicle. Then GM is stepping in to provide the wheels.
Called Limited Drive, the program lets Lyft drivers rent a GM vehicle for equally low $99 per week, plus a 20-cent-per-mile fee. Zimmer noted that drivers who make at least xl Lyft rides per calendar week won't have to pay mileage fee, and if they make more than than 65 trips in a week they won't have to pay the base price for the rental either. To sweeten the deal, GM will throw in insurance and vehicle maintenance as well as free OnStar connectivity as function of an Express Drive rental.
Limited Drive launches after this month in Chicago and volition then curlicue out in Boston, D.C., Baltimore, and others cities. Lyft said that in Chicago alone there were 60,000 people who practical to drive for the company but didn't have an appropriate vehicle because information technology's likewise old, damaged, or has two doors. If they desire to be part of the Express Drive program, GM will rent them a Chevy Equinox crossover, the only vehicle available for now.
Uber Lease and Rental Car Programs
Uber already helps drivers get access to cars through its own leasing subsidiary, which is designed to defray the loftier cost of traditional mileage-express leases. And Uber has a partnership with Enterprise Rent-A-Car that gives drivers short-term car options in 10 major cities and offers a base toll of most $210 per week with unlimited mileage. Lyft has also participated in a similar airplane pilot programme with Hertz in Denver and Las Vegas.
While Uber and Lyft are currently fighting over drivers and this latest motility adds more to the Lyft armada, the next battleground will likely exist getting rid of drivers birthday.
"We see the hereafter of personal mobility as connected, seamless, and autonomous," GM president Dan Ammann Upon said when GM appear its $500 million investment in Lyft. "With GM and Lyft working together, we believe we can successfully implement this vision more than rapidly."
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has made clear that his company plans to supersede drivers with democratic technology, and has set up store at Carnegie Mellon University'south—some would say gutted—autonomous car program to develop cocky-driving taxis. In the conference call on Monday, GM'southward Julia Steyn, head of urban mobility for the company, said that programs like Express Drive are an of import building block to providing autonomous cars for Lyft.
So now it looks like the battle will shift to GM and Lyft vs. Uber. At least until Google and Apple join the robo-taxi race.
About Doug Newcomb
Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/cars-auto/11196/lyfts-gm-deal-takes-uber-battle-up-a-notch
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