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Tesla Model 3 - driving on Lyft

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So this happened today:
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lyft referral james401431 (Just make sure you're insured and don't quit the day job!)
And about 950 trips were in my Volt.
Hey all, I have been driving lyft for a couple days now is there any way to sync Lyft's navigation to Tesla navigation? Would be great if possible.
I think the best bet would be when you can share google maps info. after the update. Or just type it in really quick!
 
I had so much fun driving model 3 that I ended up catching myself driving around an hour before work each day and figured I may make that more productive by signing up with Lyft and bring people where they want to go, which turns out to be a fun hobby that more than offsets my parking and bridge tolls.

I wrote up my experience on MrMichaelWill's Weblog describing how people react to being picked up in Model 3 and how they don't understand the doors without explanation, how they are wowed and what I get out of it. Includes Lyft-referral code in case you want to do the same.

TL;DR and additional info that came out of the discussion with people on facebook and reddit Driving a Tesla Model 3 for Lyft • r/teslamotors :

The doors are the main obstacle to making this supersmooth, but are actually a good starting point to talk about why this car is special. About anybody needed to be explained to push in the wider piece in with your thumb for the door handle to come out. Then they are wowed and love it. When wanting to exit, I have to give instructions again, that little push-button is not obivous. Also when they want to roll up or down their own window, especially in the dark, it is not obvious to anybody who hasnt been in a model 3 before. So you could say that is a design fail from a being intuitive standpoint, but seems to be quickly forgotten as the rest of the car inspires awe in all my riders.

Typical reactions to the Model 3 showing up to their Lyft request
- I must have gotten a silent upgrade, normally its Priuses and such
- wow, just noticed the all glass roof
- this car really has pickup
- this feels more like riding in BART (bay area transport electric rail train), its like gliding
- wow, that screen is bigger than on my mercedes
- thats a beautiful, amazing car
- I have never been in a tesla before
- Is this a demo ?
- Damn, I wish I didnt have to go to class and could ride longer with you, is there a way to request you specifically?

Also they love that there are two usb ports and that I provide a lighting cable for them to charge their iphone. Surprisingly they ask for permission still, seems obvious to me that thats why its there?

A few things I learned from the discussion on facebook and reddit:
- Federal tax incentive of $7500 can only be applied when at least 60% of your use of your Model 3 is personal use. So if you buy it specifically for commercial use, you may not be eligible for the tax credit. Check with your CPA to determine exactly what the situation is. If I was planning to do that I would want a black Model X with 7 seats and ride for both Lyft LUX and Uber LUX. Nonissue for me as I do this casually as a hobby.
- Personal insurance does not officially cover you when doing ride sharing unless you tell your insurance company about it and pay a little extra for being on a ride-share plan.
- Lyft insurance coverage is pretty low when you have the app running but not accepted a ride yet. Once you accept the ride, cioverage goes up from $25k to $1m until drop-off. Some people that did not upgrade their personal insurance buy a gap-insurance to cover the difference.

Other things I learned:
- destination mode is awesome to pick somebody up along the way with minimal detour, and still get paid bridge toll and enough money to pay for half your parking cost.
- Drivers like Lyft better than Uber, but if you do it professionally you probably want both.
- Driving across town to get to surge pricing (chasing the red) is usually not worth it, maybe destination mode can make it less wasteful.
- I really love meeting all those people and play music for them, learning about great songs in the process.

What I would want to improve in a Model 3 V2:
- cooled seats, especially when driving a lot in the heat. AC is great, but the back still gets a little warm over time.
- biohazard filters (elon already said no to that earlier, but I would love to evict Diesel exhaust smell from other cars that came in when I had my window open
- more interior lighting for passengers in the rear, maybe spot-lights onto the door controls
- Air suspension? I guess at that point I should be driving a Model S instead. But I love driving the Model 3 so much, because of its cornering and agility, especially between rides and without passengers.

Can you elaborate on your knowledge of the $7500 tax credit? I have looked all over online and can’t find a set rule. I am seeing if you do use it for business you simply split the $7500 up on personal, and then business. So if you did 50-50 you would need some net business income to offset the $3,750you want to credit for business use.

Is that the case?

I’m confused on the 60% nets you the full $7500 ..... one could just simply adjust use if that’s the case.
 
First 7 days with the car

$1k down (earned)

$49k to go..... no way I will maintain the pace though.

I have given 151 rides with my Model 3 vs 2011 Lexus IS 250 AWD (644 trips since January 1st)
Average Tip
Tesla: $2.14 (28% of ride cost)
Lexus: $1.34 (14% of ride cost)

Fuel Savings
Tesla saves $1.03/ride

I only give about 20 rides a week but the savings/extra tips should add up to ~$3,000/year.
 
Question: How much of the Model 3's "pep" do you show the clients? Do you explicitly ask them, like maybe in a mild-medium-spicy scale metaphor?

I normally only hit it for people that ask and in really safe situations. I had one group of younger guys that wanted a launch and after one guy said "wow, that was 45?" his buddy pointed out we got it to 70. I get a lot of people say that it is really quick when I am only giving it about 50%. Merging onto the interstate from a rolling 0-80 mph is the best.
 
I tried Uber and Lyft as a driver for 6 months with my Prius and I have too many horror stories where I wouldn't want to take any chance of driving random strangers in my 60K MR3. You name it, I experienced it...puking, hauling tube TVs, touchy-feely, people who just got a haircut so hair nubs all over, and the list continues. I made some decent money, especially with the sign-up bonus, but the opportunity cost far exceeded my time. I think if you pick-up folks on the way home or to work, that should be okay, but I would avoid the 9 pm to 2 am crowd (but then that's when you can make more money due to surge pricing).
 
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Seriously, I think Musk should make a fleet of Model 3 cars (with handles like in Model S) and rent them out to Lyft/Uber/Taxi drivers. And give them free supercharging. This will be great for boosting sales after the 7500 federal credit expires.

Tesla name brand alone would steal from both companies no doubt.

I tried Uber and Lyft as a driver for 6 months with my Prius and I have too many horror stories where I wouldn't want to take any chance of driving random strangers in my 60K MR3. You name it, I experienced it...puking, hauling tube TVs, touchy-feely, people who just got a haircut so hair nubs all over, and the list continues. I made some decent money, especially with the sign-up bonus, but the opportunity cost far exceeded my time. I think if you pick-up folks on the way home or to work, that should be okay, but I would avoid the 9 pm to 2 am crowd (but then that's when you can make more money due to surge pricing).


Be selective of times the Tesla is on the app. Also very dependent on city. Rider rating matters .... you can ignore those low rated pax. Select and Lux tier levels don’t hurt either, my main driver will still be my 9 year old suv but the Tesla is a nice change up.
 
I think if you pick-up folks on the way home or to work, that should be okay, but I would avoid the 9 pm to 2 am crowd (but then that's when you can make more money due to surge pricing).
I chatted with the full-time Lyft driver (and of course Uber when Lyft wasn't getting him fares) that Tesla gave me for a shop visit, and he said there's basically no surge in the Houston area anyway (he'd moved from L.A. where he was living when he started driving).

P.S. Really not enough demand for the premium car stuff, either, to justify the paperwork and fees to get on that list. He was driving a Caddie ATS IIRC.
 
Thanks to this thread, I've been constantly earning $60 to $80 per week during my commute via Waze Carpool. I've found that people whom love the car (everyone), keeps sending repeat requests after that, even if I charge a premium over others. (twice as much in some occasions, or so they say)

All I have to do is spend an extra ~5 minutes during my already 1 hour commute. :)
 
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Seriously, I think Musk should make a fleet of Model 3 cars (with handles like in Model S) and rent them out to Lyft/Uber/Taxi drivers. And give them free supercharging. This will be great for boosting sales after the 7500 federal credit expires.

When they roll out the Tesla Network I guarantee a lot of Uber/Lyft drivers would buy a used Tesla to be eligible. $30k for a used Model S seems like a no brainier to be eligible. It could see 1 million new/used auto sales for Tesla top of making a little on each ride.
 
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