Joulez

The rental car market is booming and is expected to reach $214 billion by 2027 (source). However, despite the increased growth, the rental car market is lagging far behind the times.

As Millennials and GenZ become the largest consumer demographic in the US, the demand for green services like EV rentals only continues to grow, and the car rental space is filled with legacy rental car companies in need of disruption.

Electric vehicles are the future, but traditional rental car companies have not embraced EVs and don't have the customer service to support the new technology. Joulez is here to change that.

The car rental industry still has yet to catch up with the growing demand for greener transportation, and the rental process hasn’t been updated in ages—long lines, complicated policies, hidden penalties at every turn, and more.

Most of the rental cars available today are gas-run, mass consumer, low mileage vehicles that come with a subpar customer service experience. In fact, many rental car companies don’t have any EVs to rent.

Consumers are demanding solutions that address the rapidly-changing climate crisis while also delivering a modern, convenient, and luxury experience. However, few companies have embraced electric vehicles and even fewer are focused on delivering a quality experience throughout the rental process.

At Joulez, we’re taking the car rental game to new heights. By offering premium EVs such as Tesla, Mercedes, and Kia, with many more to come, and by delivering exceptional customer service and a modern rental experience, we’re revolutionizing the way people rent cars.

We recognize that renting an EV may take some adjusting for those accustomed to gas cars, and we are committed to providing our customers with the most user-friendly experience possible, including virtual tutorials and an app full of information for new EV drivers.

Our service will provide everything the driver needs from the moment they book their vehicle to the moment they return it.

Our on-demand system will allow customers to book cars through our mobile app or website, with support available through a video conference and reservation management interface. We also intend to build loyalty with our customers through a rewards program that will feel similar to those of top hotel brands and airlines.

Our unique and modern web and mobile platform will be built around electric vehicles and the unique needs of EV renters.

Founded in May 2021, the Joulez vision has always been to electrify America’s transportation while providing a high level of customer service. We are here to create a better way to get places, and with less than 2% of EV rental cars available worldwide, we see the opportunity to take this industry by storm.

We are currently raising money to help acquire the fleet of electric vehicles needed to successfully roll out our platform, but we have already seen much success since our founding.

• We’ve expanded our fleet to 30 electric vehicles and counting.
• We previously raised over $500,000 on StartEngine.
• We’ve hired more team members to help oversee operations and assist in delivering world-class support for our customers.
• We’re revving up to expand our EV fleet in NYC and eventually expand to new cities.

Our process is simple and easy. With several electric vehicles to choose from, users can find the perfect EV for them, book it, and set their desired pickup and dropoff time. Or, for those who want the ultimate luxury experience, we’ll deliver their EV right to their doorstep if they’re within our service area.

We're committed to going above and beyond to educate people on the power of electric vehicles and the state of our environment while also providing a solution to help them get to where they need to go.

As we gear up to launch, we currently have a beta test group of 1,000 clients renting our EVs, and we are working to design and develop the mobile app that customers can use to book our cars.

We will offer daily, weekly and monthly rentals at competitive rates for our NYC market, with prices ranging from $75-200/day.

We anticipate that at a 65% vehicle rental utilization rate which will cover the entire vehicle cost within 2 years including labor, repairs, cleaning, maintenance, storage, charging and insurance. Plus, the resale value of Teslas and comparable EVs has outperformed the resale value of traditional gas-powered cars, and we anticipate this trend to continue, providing a steady financing mechanism to support expanded operations.

FINANCIAL MODEL DETAILS

• We currently pay an 8% fee (including transaction fees) for listing the vehicles on Turo.
  
• We currently work with an operations partner, Noonan Auto Group, who cleans, secures, and delivers the cars. The operations partner minimizes overhead by avoiding the need to have any full-time employees, but they take 30% of the total rental revenue after Turo fees.
  
• Our operations partner generates thousands every month upselling insurance products, and we see this as a critical addition to our revenue model.
  
• Our first six months of operations with a limited number of vehicles has given us a margin of $500+ per vehicle above operating costs, which is scalable as we grow.
  
  
  

As a premium brand that connects drivers with an amazing rental car experience, we aim to be the global leader for electric vehicle rentals, starting out in New York City, with the goal to make our services available throughout the US and Canada, with networks touching all other continents.

To do this, we’re seeking $5M in investments to expand our geographic reach and software development. That $5M will be divided into two main categories: $3.75M for US Expansion Growth Capital and $1.25M for Software Development/R&D.

US EXPANSION PLAN

Each garage we open costs approximately $200-250K to startup. This includes:

• Down payments on vehicles (80-90% LTV financed at 5-6% APR)
• Installation of charging infrastructure
• Down payments for storage and insurance
• Initial staffing needs for the specific location
• Localized marketing efforts

SOFTWARE / R&D DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT

EV OEM integration is anticipated to cost $76K/integration, and the EV Charging Network integration is anticipated to cost $40K/integration. Based on current development work, we foresee doing integrations with 6 of the leading EV networks in the US and the 10 largest EV manufacturers in the US.

We anticipate an additional $250K cost to manage various core functionality requirements including our Rewards Program, Insurance Upsales, and Corporate Partnerships.

The rental car industry is primed for major growth, and Joulez is ready to deliver a car rental experience unlike any other. We believe in putting our customers first, and we hope you’ll join us in our pursuit to electrify America’s transportation!

See the full pitch deck here