Tesla teams up with Turo to boost Full Self-Driving adoption
Car rental marketplace Turo will begin flagging Teslas equipped with the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance system. Tesla has recently reported rising paid uptake of the software among buyers.
Turo, a U.S. car rental marketplace where private owners rent out their vehicles, has announced it will start highlighting Tesla cars that have the automaker's advanced driver assistance system, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), or FSD, enabled. The collaboration could widen use of the software by letting renters try it first-hand. The system handles most driving tasks but still requires human supervision.
What the partnership involves
Turo says it is working with Tesla to directly access the automaker's API, a software interface, to verify which cars have FSD turned on. Eligible Turo "hosts", who rent out their cars on the platform, will also get a free one-month FSD trial. In listings, owners will be able to promote their vehicles as "Self-Driving".
People who rent an FSD-enabled Tesla will see cautionary wording requiring them to monitor the software and be ready to take over at any moment. They will also be able to view a tutorial created by Tesla.
Tesla's figures
The news follows updated figures Tesla released a few days earlier. According to the company, about 1.7 million customers worldwide have paid for FSD, out of more than 10 million cars built and sold to date. More than 75% of customers who took delivery of a car in North America in the third quarter paid for an FSD subscription, roughly 20% more than in the second quarter, although Tesla's U.S. sales have been declining.
Over the past year Tesla has reworked some showrooms to emphasize FSD as a selling point. Chief executive Elon Musk said the effort is working, writing that people are buying FSD with a car attached rather than the reverse. Finance chief Vaibhav Taneja said customers are asking for an FSD drive rather than for specific models.
Turo's interest
Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y are the third- and fourth-most popular vehicles on Turo this year. Turo chief executive Andre Haddad said the company's research shows 55% of Americans are interested in driverless technology for travel, rising to 71% among Gen Z.
