How did the idea behind the inception of Halo.Car come about and what is your mission in the mobility space?
My life vision has always been to fight climate change and as private cars are responsible for 41% of all emissions, there is a clear need for change in this space. Replacing billions of ICE vehicles worldwide is going to take a lot of time, especially in the context of an underdeveloped infrastructure. While working for Uber, I realized that no matter how powerful their model is, it is not going to be profitable without an autonomy feature. Self-driving cars are poised to become reality in around 15 years or more, but we need a viable solution here and now. Thinking about practical ways to get everybody in electric car share systems, I realized that if a vehicle can be repositioned without any drivers inside, that would be a low OpEx and CapEx solution. After this consideration, the idea of a remote pilot managing a whole fleet of EVs instead of being dedicated to only one car came about in a very natural way.
Halo.Car's purpose is to simplify mobility. With a push of a button, our customers can get a vehicle wherever they are in Las Vegas. After the initial manual phase where a designated driver delivers the car, we are inching towards remote delivery, later this summer. Like exoskeletons add to the strength and safety of industrial workers, a remote pilot with level 2 or 3 autonomy can drive at faster speeds in more complex environments. Similar to ridesharing, there is no stress associated with finding parking spots, customers being able to simply leave the car at their desired destination, where we are picking it up and continuing driving to the next client.
Is it something quintessential to Las Vegas that makes it the perfect location for your prototype?
Nevada has been incredibly sustainability focused, with a lot of solar plants and incredible organization towards the electric transition. In 2011 they passed the first legislation regarding self-driving cars, and even started testing them on public roads. Having the road paved for us, we partnered with the DMV and we are set to become the first ever company to launch this service in the world. Last but not least, the mild weather and the flat topography are allowing us to test our fleet in a fuss-free way.
What are the main challenges that you will have to solve in order for Halo to thrive?
Scaling up the fleet to 1,4 million cars by 2030 is definitely the biggest challenge that keeps us busy these days, but once we manage to conquer this goal, we know that 20% of all ICE cars in the U.S. were successfully replaced by EVs. As we develop a playbook in Las Vegas and learn more about how the fleet operates across the city, expanding to other areas should become much easier. These days investors are focusing towards clear paths for revenue and profitability, so we must have solid fundamental economics that demonstrate we are capable of developing a feasible business. Up to now, we have done really well in this space, with repeat customers coming month after month, so raising capital should not be an insurmountable obstacle for us in the years to come.
Where do you see the mobility industry in 20 years from now, after having achieved all the goals related to electrification and automation?
In a context where a personal vehicle is parked 96% of the time and its average monthly costs are $1,000, I envision a future where people will never own a car again. OEMs and dealers have fractions of margins and the world is crying out for a better solution which we have not unlocked yet. Many people cannot afford a $40,000 EV and the charging infrastructure is not only expensive but it also is hard to put in place if the user is living in a rental house. All these make the transition to EVs a lot more difficult so having a flexible solution that allows more people to rent an electric car could lead to a peak in adoption and interest. Ultimately, 50% of Gen Zs say they would never own a car because they are tired of this anchor holding them back so we plan to cut that cord.
What advice would you have for the young entrepreneurs that are trying to unlock the mobility sector?
First and foremost, they should always think radically big. We, as a company, get very excited every time we hear a "no" because that is when we know we hit the edge of human thinking. If somebody wants to change the future, they need to think outside of the box, be persistent and never let their eye off the ball. Finding ways to cleverly circumvent the current environment to get to the goal will eventually open up a world of possibility.
