Subscription startup Autonomy announced on Tuesday that it placed orders for 23,000 electric vehicles for its new subscription platform from various automakers. Autonomy, founded by serial entrepreneur Scott Painter, also said it is partnering with dealership giant AutoNation Inc. to acquire and service vehicles.
The orders are for 45 models from 17 automakers and are valued at $1.2 billion, Autonomy said in a release. The company plans to take delivery of all 23,000 vehicles within 18 months, said Painter Automotive News,
Autonomy’s business model is to provide EVs to customers at a flat monthly fee. The company is a rebrand of Painter’s 2020 venture, NextCar, a back-end software-as-a-service platform that was marketed to vehicle subscription providers.
At launch in January, Autonomy only had a Tesla Model 3 available to customers. The company later added the Tesla Model Y as an option. New orders and partnerships with AutoNation provide a myriad of options for Autonomy customers, said Painter, who is best known for founding the vehicle listing company TrueCar Inc.
“This truly represents our scaling moment from being a Tesla provider to being the provider of every electric car that meets our needs,” Painter said.
While Tesla vehicles make up the largest portion of the company’s wave of orders — about 36 percent, or 8,300 Model 3s and Model Ys — the next largest share will come from General Motors. GM products make up about 15 percent of orders, or 3,400 vehicles. Painter cited the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyric as examples of ordered GM vehicles.
Autonomy said Volkswagen, Ford, Hyundai, Kia and Rivian were also recipients of substantial orders, with 1,000 vehicles or more coming from each automaker.
Apart from Rivian, several startup automakers were included in the order. Autonomy said includes Polestar, Volvo and Canoo – albeit with fewer than 500 vehicles each.
Painter said the delivery timeline will be different for each make and model and is dependent on production levels and vehicle release schedules.
AutoNation will prepare and deliver the EVs for autonomy. The dealership group, which has hundreds of stores in the US, will also provide maintenance services for vehicles in Autonomy’s fleet.
This isn’t the first time AutoNation and Painter have done business. In 2015, AutoNation cut Painter’s ties with TrueCar over the sharing of customer transaction data. By 2017, Painter and AutoNation had begun to make amends, as Painter’s then-new company Fair announced a partnership with the retailer.
AutoNation’s deal with AutoNation was driven by AutoNation’s remote dealership network across the US and its ability to service vehicles across subscriptions and stand behind the work, Painter said.
AutoNation did not respond to multiple requests Automotive News for comment.