Tesla Bans the use of its Cars as Uber or Lyft Vehicle

By S. Rina / 1477227155
(Photo : Pixabay) Tesla plans to start its own ride-sharing service.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk briefly talked about a possible ride-sharing program earlier this year. It is likely that the company is planning to start its own ride-sharing scheme. This may pose a challenge to ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft.

Tesla has made it clear that its autonomous cars should not be used for ride-sharing services such Uber or Lyft. However, the cars may be used for sharing rides by family and friends. The disclaimer issued by the company stated that the use of the company's cars for revenue generation through ride-sharing "will only be permissible on the Tesla Network."

While Tesla plans to share details about the Tesla Network by next year, Musk provided a glimpse of the plan with his "Master Plan, Part Deux." The Master plan was released in July this year where Musk talked about a ride-sharing plan using Tesla cars. It would involve the use of a phone app to add individually-owned Tesla cars to the ride-sharing fleet to "generate income."

Tesla's move is not entirely surprising as more and more automakers are clamoring to fetch a piece of the burgeoning ride-sharing market. Earlier this year, General Motors infused $500 million into Lyft. The company has already declared that its upcoming Chevrolet Bolt EV is designed with ride-sharing in mind.

However, unlike General Motors and Uber, Tesla is comparatively low on resources. Start-up firms such as Uber have reportedly spent billions to acquire a market share using highly aggressive tactics.