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Wobbly Math

Interesting set of partnerships for Hertz - Uber, Tesla and Carvana. The Uber scenario is particularly interesting - the would be driver would rent a Tesla from Hertz for week (for instance) and return it. The benefit is that they could get into the business of being an Uber driver even if they don't own a car or the one they do own is not road-worthy. For this to work, the said driver has to make more than they owe Hertz and Uber. If this reduces the barrier to enter the rideshare driver business, there will be a glut and prices will go down. Consequently none of these drivers might turn a profit. 

Currently in the best case scenario if an Uber driver is making trips 8 hours a day they would make about $1100 per week.  In a same market a Hertz rental costs around $1000 per considering liability insurance and such which the driver will need because they presumably have no auto insurance. So the driver would clear $100 in a week. Unless the rental cost drops to $100 a week, this is not tenable for the driver living in California. Once the math on the rental starts to work for the driver the the over abundance of Ubers would start to work against them. The Carvana business is even less clear but someone in Hertz clearly took the messaging of being an eco-system driver to heart and went all in. 

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