Las Vegas, Nev. – Halo.Car, a US-based company developing remote driving technology for cars, announced April 17 the launch of the Halo Beta program along with three initial participants: electric vehicle (EV) rental companies EV Access and Joulez and Spring Free EV, an EV fleet leasing company.
“After two years operating remote driving in our own rental fleet, I’m thrilled to be launching our technology to other fleet operators,” said Halo.Car founder and CEO, Anand Nandakumar. “Remote drivers will transform fleet operations. Rental companies can deliver vehicles to customers easily and make profits. Commercial fleets can streamline driver operations and save on costs. This launch is a huge step to unleashing that value for the millions of vehicles in fleets globally.”
Vehicles equipped with Halo.Car’s remote driving technology can be remotely connected to and driven over LTE and 5G. The vehicles stream video from the installed cameras to drive consoles at an operations center, where a trained Halo.Car driver remotely ‘pilots’ the vehicle.
Halo Beta Program
The Halo Beta program is the first opportunity for fleets to access Halo’s remote driving technology, which has previously been used exclusively by Halo. Gasoline vehicle and EV fleets in California, Texas, Arizona, Florida and Nevada can apply to the beta program now through Thursday, May 30. The final participants selected will be the first in the world to access the technology, receiving discounted costs and significant hands-on support from Halo.Car to deploy the remote driving technology.
Justin Pappan, CEO of EV Access, shared his excitement about the beta. “Customers want seamless on-demand convenience, and that means delivery. Rather than getting a shuttle or an Uber to get to their car, we’re excited to offer a unique delivery experience so customers’ vehicles come to them. We’re thrilled to join Halo’s beta program and to launch remote deliveries of our rental cars to our customers.” EV Access operates its EV-only rental fleet of 250 vehicles in Phoenix and Salt Lake City.
Micah Bergdale, CEO of Joulez, emphasized changing customer expectations and how Joulez is rising to meet it. “Customers expect a modern, convenient, digital experience. We’ve thought about the EV renting experience from the ground up to improve it, and offering contactless delivery with Halo’s remote drivers will be a game-changer.” Joulez operates an EV-only rental fleet of 150 vehicles across New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Austin.
Spring Free Partnerships
To support the expansion of the beta program, Halo.Car is partnering with Spring Free EV, which will offer the technology as an added customer benefit. Interested EV companies can lease new or used EVs from Spring Free EV with Halo’s technology pre-installed.
Applications to the Halo Beta Program are open now at halo.car/beta through Thursday, May 30. The program is open to EV and gasoline vehicle rental and carshare fleets in California, Texas, Arizona, Florida and Nevada, with a minimum of five cars to be enrolled in the beta.
About Halo.Car
Halo.Car’s retrofit technology enables any vehicle to be remotely driven with no one inside. Fleets use Halo’s pilots or their own teams to remotely reposition vehicles and reduce their costs of operations. Founded by former Uber Advanced Technologies perception lead Anand Nandakumar, Halo.Car serves fleets across the rental, carshare, and commercial sector. Learn more at https://www.halo.car/.
About EV Access
EV Access is an electric vehicle rental company operating in Phoenix and Salt Lake City. Customers can book from EV Access’ fleet of over 250 vehicles, with the option to pick up the vehicle or have it delivered to their address. Learn more at https://evaccess.io
About Joulez
Joulez is an electric vehicle rental service with a fleet of 150 vehicles across New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Austin. Customers can rent an electric vehicle for pickup or delivery, with models available from Tesla, BMW, Mercedes, Kia, Polestar, Lucid and Rivian. Learn more at https://drivejoulez.com
About Spring Free EV
Spring Free EV is a financial technology company built to accelerate the adoption of EVs through innovative fintech products. It has the bold mission to reduce CO2 emissions by one gigaton by 2030 through a new vehicle financing approach that makes EVs more accessible to everyone. Spring Free EV was co-founded by Sunil Paul, Martin Lagod, Tenni Theurer, Visrin Vichit-Vandakan, and Andrew Deitz in 2021 and is backed by leading investors Spring Lane Capital, Reid Hoffman, Ev Williams, Mark Pincus, and others. Learn more at www.springfreeev.com
