LeasePlan trials new connected technology to revolutionise personal car sharing

LeasePlan’s private lease customers who register for the Tess app will receive a ‘beacon’ and a fuel card.

After being placed in the car, the beacon will recognise a driver by connecting to their smartphone app.

The fuel card, also linked to the app, ensures that the fuel costs can be shared among individual users, according to their level of usage.

Customers can also split the lease costs evenly between participants or calculate them based on an hourly rate for the usage per person, with payments collectable via the repayment app, Tikkie.

Michel Alsemgeest, chief digital officer at LeasePlan, said: “People increasingly want flexible subscription services to fulfil their mobility needs, and the introduction of Tess fits perfectly with this trend. Tess enables car sharing solely with your friends and family, so the trust issues that stopped many people from sharing their cars just aren’t there anymore.

“In addition, because Tess allows you to easily split the costs with everyone who has driven the car, you can get it making money for you even while you’re not driving it – which makes private leasing an even more affordable option. With our customers’ feedback, we aim to work on the further rollout of Tess and other digital car subscription services.”

LeasePlan currently operates around 1.7 million vehicles in more than 30 countries worldwide.