When you’re 16-years-old, it’s normal to dream about the day when you can finally go to Las Vegas. Playa Vista’s Haydn Sonnad can make that trip once a day, but the high school sophomore’s reasoning is far from normal.
Haydn and his father, Rahul, have created a Tesla ridesharing system called Tesloop that transports customers between Los Angeles and Las Vegas daily. The service launched on July 5 and has already made more than 40 round trips and considers itself a cheaper and more comfortable experience than flying or driving a normal car.
Eleven weeks ago, Haydn devised a plan to lease a Tesla and pay off the car by chartering one or two trips to Vegas a month. But after doing the math, it became clear that this was a scalable idea that could make a profit with a fleet of cars.
Haydn pitched the idea to his father’s startup team, who all agreed to help create the website and develop the business. A few weeks later they had a fleet of ten Teslas, and they began driving the “loops” themselves.
While the startup’s employees currently serve as the drivers, Tesloop is hoping to launch a “pilot program” which would allow customers to drive the car and receive reviews from their fellow passengers. Highly rated drivers would receive a discounted rate that could potentially allow them to drive to Vegas and back for free.
Tesloop has raised close to $200,000 on flashfunders and is looking to hire its first full-time driver as they plan to expand to Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, and Mountain View by the fall.
Rahul believes the future is even brighter for Tesloop after Tesla's recent announcement that their cars will soon feature autopilot capability. The father and son duo envisions their fleet of cars making the desert trek while their drivers kick back and relax in style.
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