Tesla is flexing its muscles in a lucrative new market that could boost sales.
Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc Report is not waiting for the fleet to come in.
The electric vehicle maker recently launched a website for companies that is dedicated to the benefits of having a fleet full of Tesla.
“With low cost of ownership and zero emissions, owning a Tesla fleet benefits your business, your drivers and the environment,” the website states. “State and local incentives for electric vehicles also help to reduce overall costs.”
The website lists several company benefits of an electric fleet, including never paying for gas again and low cost of ownership, no regularly required maintenance and over-the-air software updates.
“Your drivers can plug in at the office, on the road or anywhere with electricity,” the website said. “Travel farther on a single charge and keep going with access to 30,000+ Supercharges along your route.”
Telsa said “drivers can plug in along their route and recover up to 200 miles in just 15 minutes.”
“With over-the-air software updates, every Tesla receives the latest features and functionality—making your fleet better over time,” Tesla said.
The Fleet Business
As far as community benefits, the website lists safer roads with a very low probability of injury tested by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, active safety features autopilot and full self-driving.
Business fleet vehicles can be a lucrative source of income for an automaker.
The NAFA Fleet Management’s Association said on its website that its members control more than 4.2 million vehicles and manage assets in excess of $92 billion, with vehicles traveling more than 84 billion miles annually.
Last October rental car giant Hertz (HTZ) – Get Hertz Global Holdings Inc Report placed an order for 100,000 Tesla Model 3 and announced last week that it its investing in UFODrive, and electric vehicle self-hire app.
Hertz said that it would convert more than 20% of its rental fleet to Tesla’s electric cars by the end of this year.
By launching this specific site, the group of Elon Musk hopes to attract other companies at a time when environmental issues occupy an important place in business circles.
Indeed, some major shareholders are increasingly asking the companies in which they have a stake to make their carbon footprint and their commitments to reduce their CO2 emissions public.
The environment, along with social issues and governance, form the new values on which certain company managements are judged. Companies are also increasingly being asked to assess the risks to their ESG-related activities.
Tesla no doubt also wants to position itself to capture part of the purchase of electric vehicles by the Biden administration, which wants to convert the entire federal automobile fleet to electric vehicles.
Tesla generated revenue of $17.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up 65% year-on-year.
Is Tesla Eyeing the Federal Fleet?
“We’re gearing up to make all 600,000 federal government vehicles electric, bringing more manufacturing jobs back to our country, and building supply chains here at home. We’re making ‘buy American’ a reality-not just a promise,” President Biden posted on Twitter on February 11.
To which Elon Musk replied: “Model 3 is literally the most made in America car in – well of course – America.”
The Model 3 is Tesla’s entry-level vehicle and has a base price of $40,690. The Austin, Texas-based automaker also has three other models – Model S, Model X and Model Y – but they’re much more expensive.
Tesla, whose market capitalization is above $830 billion, has been in the news a lot in recent weeks.
Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta, or FSD Beta, has garnered some negative press recently as news organizations conducted tests that showed Teslas going through red lights and making wrong terms.
CEO Elon Musk told analysts in January that full-self-driving feature will become Tesla’s first engine of growth.
The outspoken Musk recently stirred up more controversy when he accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of leaking information to harm him.
In a letter addressed to the New York judge Alison Nathan by his lawyer, the richest man in the world alleges that these leaks, which intervene within the framework of an investigation by the federal agency on Tesla, are reprisals following recent criticisms that he made against the SEC.
