SafeHer for Women, a new women-only ridesh
are service, is slated for a nationwide launch in the fall, according to former Uber driver and SafeHer’s Founder Michael Pelletz.
“My goal when I started this nine weeks ago was to have 1,000 drivers in Massachusetts by April 19, and expand from city to city, but we’ve signed up way more than that,” he told Auto Finance News. “When we do launch, we will have millions using the service daily, so we need to make sure our technology can handle the demand. That’s really the only reason we are slowing down.”
More than 7,500 drivers applied within the past week, and SafeHer — formerly named Chariot for Women — projects to have more than 100,000 drivers by the fall, Pelletz said.
Drivers will use their own vehicles for now, he said, but SafeHer is in the market for manufacturers to provide a fleet of cars. The rideshare company is also aiming to offer “even better” financing opportunities than Uber’s Xchange Leasing program. “Everybody wants to get on board with us, so we have a lot of different options,” he said.
A leasing program is one possibility, but SafeHer also hopes to help drivers score free cars. “One of our incentives for women drivers is that the top 1% earning drivers will get a free Tesla Model S on tax day, which is a huge incentive,” he said.
Additionally, Kelly Pelletz, SafeHer’s president and Michael Pelletz wife, opted for 2% of each rider’s fare to be donated to women-based charities. “Before passengers request a ride, they will get a popup on their phone where they can choose from 10 different charities every month, and choose where they want the money to go,” Michael Pelletz said.
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