Maven Aims to Ease Delivery Drivers Into Leasing With Weekly Rental Program

General Motors Co.’s mobility services platform Maven launched a rental product for rideshare and delivery drivers called Maven Gig yesterday, in hopes it will serve as a gateway for consumers to lease vehicles from General Motors Financial Co., Rachel Bhattacharya, GM’s director of commercial mobility and AV fleet operations, told Auto Finance News.

“Obviously, if a renter just took the car for a couple months and had a great rental experience, I am happy, because they were happy,” Bhattacharya said. However, the goal is for drivers to earn enough money to switch to traditional monthly leases, she said.

The new program allows commercial drivers to rent Chevrolet Bolt EVs for $229 per week — $50 more than the similar Lyft Express Drive program. The $229 cost includes insurance, maintenance, unlimited miles, and free charging through EVgo stations so drivers do not have to worry about fuel costs. “We feel like the price point is a competitive, transparent weekly rate to allow drivers an easy way to participate in the sharing economy,” a Maven spokesperson added.

Based on an earlier pilot, most of the demand so far has been for week-long rentals used for package and food delivery, as well as for ridesharing, Bhattacharya added. Maven’s initial partners include GrubHub, Instacart, and Roadie, as well as Uber and Lyft.

Maven Gig is live in San Diego and will launch in San Francisco and Los Angeles later this year. If the California launches go well, the company will look to expand the program into other markets, Bhattacharya said.