Hyundai, WaiveCar team up to offer Ioniq EV car sharing for free
What better way to get your new car in front of as many faces as humanly possible?
Aside from death, there's one other universal constant -- a human being's love of free stuff. Hyundai is taking advantage of that biological imperative and offering up free car sharing in order to get the word out about its all-electric Ioniq.
Hyundai partnered with WaiveCar to make this happen. WaiveCar is an all-electric car sharing company that operates on advertising dollars, thanks to a roof-mounted digital display and vinyl wraps. In the Ioniq EV's case, it's all Hyundai-related. 4G connections allow the billboards to target ads based on time and location.
This partnership will bear fruit in early 2017, when Los Angelinos can pick up and drive an electric Ioniq absolutely free of charge. The drive is limited to two hours, but if you're willing to pay about $6 per hour, you can keep going beyond those two freebies. The cars are picked up and dropped off at designated points around Los Angeles.
This is Hyundai's first massive car-sharing effort, and it could pay off handsomely. With 150 free-to-drive electric Ioniqs rolling around Los Angeles covered in Ioniq advertisements, it'll get the message out to a ton of people. WaiveCar has plans to expand to three additional cities in the future, as well, using another 250 Ioniqs. Save some for the dealerships!
