Las Vegas: Project 100

[avatar]

Zappos CEO Buys 100 Teslas

Downtown Project Buys 100 Teslas To Launch Project 100, A Car-Sharing Service In Las Vegas | TechCrunch

Damn....

 

[hershey101]

Downtown Project Buys 100 Teslas To Launch Project 100, A Car-Sharing Service In Las Vegas | TechCrunch

Damn....

Wasn't there a thread about this a few weeks ago and an update saying that this news was false?

 

[avatar]

This one isn't. Its real. Its for the downtown project in Las Vegas...

 

[Robert.Boston]

This just in:

Today, the Downtown Project, the downtown Las Vegas revitalization project led by Tony Hsieh, announced it is launching Project 100. Project 100 is the code name for a complete transportation system designed to help you get rid of your car and be more connected to your neighborhood for the same cost of (average) monthly car ownership. Led by Zach Ware, the effort is in line with the Downtown Project’s goal to help revitalize downtown Vegas in order to become the most community-focused and connected city in the world.Project 100 is a membership based system that is controlled by a mobile application. The application will give you access to cars, like Zipcar, drivers, like Uber and bike share, like viaCycles, all under one offering. Centered around a sophisticated mobile booking system, Project 100 uses zones to determine the best transportation method for your location and specified action. Currently Project 100 is focused on Las Vegas but it is being built for scale.
Project 100, which has been in the works for awhile, had a big moment last week when they placed an order for one hundred Teslas on March 29th – the single largest US order by one entity to date.
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk had this to say of the project:
“We are excited to be partnering with Downtown Project and Project 100. I am a big fan of their innovative efforts to help revitalize and transform downtown Vegas.”

 

[vfx]

You can drive your Tesla from LA to Vegas. Yaaa. Charging there has always been a pain. Hopefully this announcement see many more places to plug in.

 

[JoshG]

Am I the only one that thinks this is a bad idea? I think bad things will happen with casual carsharing of Model S. Drivers not familiar with the car or how to use it properly will run out of power, race the cars, and be distracted with the technology.

The Model S requires adjustment on the part of the driver... it's just not immediately intuitive to drive safely. It's expensive, powerful, and very fast - things you don't usually associate with casual "just jump in and drive" car sharing services. There's a reason Zipcar chooses inexpensive, simple, intuitive vehicles.

 

[avatar]

Project 100 | Drive. Ride. Bike. Fly. Connect.

A little more color on this :

Why 100 Teslas?
There were inaccurate reports in the media earlier this month that claimed we had already purchased 100 Tesla Model S’s. We were pretty confident we were going to buy some number of Model S’s even as a test, but weren’t otherwise sure and we hadn’t spoken in detail to Tesla. A couple of weeks ago we visited the factory (which is really, really cool) and were sold. We placed the order officially on March 29 and literally received 100 email order confirmations.
We chose the Tesla Model S as our primary vehicle for a lot of reasons. It’s a beautiful yet functional sedan that’s very fun to drive. It’s also a big computer on wheels which gives us the opportunity optimize the member experience over time and test a lot of theories about how people use vehicles. Tesla thinks like a startup and our conversations with their program and engineering teams so far solidified that they were the right long-term partner. Most importantly we wanted to replace peoples’ traditional vehicles with vehicles that do less harm to the environment than a traditional gas-powered vehicle. Since Teslas are 100% electric with excellent driving range, the choice was clear.
Going 100% electric carries with it a ton of challenges. It’s one thing to build a 100+ car system with traditional cars you can park anywhere. Electric vehicles require power so we’re working hard to build the infrastructure to support a system of this size. We’ve been working with our local utility partner NV Energy for a while now to do that the right way so our system respects our environment.

 

[Krugerrand]

We placed the order officially on March 29 and literally received 100 email order confirmations.[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]

Classic! :biggrin:

 

[Ardie]

JoshG,

Hmmm. Maybe you are.

Don't, for even a minute, think that those who rent other high performance cars for a weekend (Corvettes and Porsches come to mind) instantly turn into model citizen drivers.
Its the nature of the vehicle rental business.

Actually, a car that is desireable to own & drive, cheap to operate, and even cheaper to maintain sounds like a perfect fleet car to me, rental or not.

-- Ardie
Luckily, NetJet rentals come with their own pilots.

 

[AMPd]

Great news!

 

[Cattledog]

They probably hadn't had 100 reservations in a day since 12/31. Makes Q2 numbers look even better.

 

[FalconNinetyD]

Am I the only one that thinks this is a bad idea? I think bad things will happen with casual carsharing of Model S. Drivers not familiar with the car or how to use it properly will run out of power, race the cars, and be distracted with the technology.

The Model S requires adjustment on the part of the driver... it's just not immediately intuitive to drive safely. It's expensive, powerful, and very fast - things you don't usually associate with casual "just jump in and drive" car sharing services. There's a reason Zipcar chooses inexpensive, simple, intuitive vehicles.

The Model S will be available with a driver, like Uber. The customer would not be driving it...

 

[Frankrb]

As one of 20 or so current Model S owners here in the Las Vegas Valley, I think this is great. While the "unique car" buzz will fade quickly with over 100 fleet cars on the road locally, I think this will be great for Telsa and local owners, to get the service center, and additional Supercharger infrastructure built here in the area. Go Tesla and Project 100!!

 

[FalconNinetyD]

I met the sole person responsible for fleet/corporate sales while at the San Diego store grand opening. He seemed like a real good guy, I wonder if he had anything to do with this?

 

[ModelS8794]

I met the sole person responsible for fleet/corporate sales while at the San Diego store grand opening. He seemed like a real good guy, I wonder if he had anything to do with this?

@mcornwell, did they advertise the store opening event for San Fran? I am near the King Of Prussia PA location that shows up as "Opening Soon" and I would love to participate in any store opening event they hold. Dunno who I would call to ask about it though.