The $395 Answer to How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Tesla

Renting a Tesla from us costs $395 or $495 a day. That's the whole spread across the three we run. So the short answer to how much does it cost to rent a Tesla is $395 for the Model S Plaid or the Cybertruck AWD, and $495 for the Cybertruck. Every one of them includes 100 miles a day and a $1,000 deposit hold.

The number barely moves, but the car you get for it changes a lot. Picture the black Cybertruck easing up to the curb at LAX. People waiting for a ride stop scrolling and look at the flat steel planes. Nobody looks that way at a rideshare.

The Tesla rental price for each of the three we run

We run three Teslas, one Model S and two Cybertrucks. Here is each one with its rate, deposit, and extra mile rate from its listing.

• Tesla Model S Plaid, 2022, red over white. $395 a day, $1,000 deposit, $4 per extra mile.
• Tesla Cybertruck AWD, 2025, black wrap over black. $395 a day, $1,000 deposit, $4 per extra mile.
• Tesla Cybertruck, 2024, black wrap over black. $495 a day, $1,000 deposit, $4 per extra mile.

Two of the three cost the same, and they're opposite bookings. The Model S Plaid is for the driver. Three motors make 1,020 hp, and it hits 60 mph in 1.99 seconds. That's quicker than every Lamborghini, Ferrari, and McLaren we run. From the outside it's a red four door sedan, so nobody on the sidewalk sees it coming.

The Cybertruck is for everyone else. Pull into a hotel valet in Santa Monica and the attendant walks around it before he takes the key. Strangers ask if it's real. It's the most photographed car in our fleet on social media, and you didn't have to do anything but park it.

What the extra $100 on the Cybertruck buys

The extra $100 a day buys equipment, not speed. Both trucks are the same dual motor Cybertruck with 600 hp and 60 mph in 4.1 seconds. Both run a black wrap over the bare stainless steel, since the steel can't be painted. From across a parking lot in Irvine nobody can tell them apart.

The $495 truck is the higher specification of the pair. It's the launch version Tesla called the Foundation Series, and it adds Full Self-Driving capability under supervision, extra cabin trim, and launch badging. You won't feel any of that behind the wheel. You'll feel it in the equipment list, and maybe in a photo of the badge.

Here's the part nobody tells you. The trucks are built differently from anything else on the road. They run a 48 volt electrical system where most cars use 12. The steering is steer by wire, meaning there's no mechanical link between the wheel and the front tires. Lock to lock is about 340 degrees, so a tight turn out of a parking structure takes less than one turn of the yoke.

So book the $395 AWD if the shape is the point, and most of the time it is. Book the $495 truck if the equipment matters to you. Both get the same stare when the light bar comes on after dark.

The deposit, the miles, and the charge

The deposit on every Tesla we run is $1,000. It's a hold on your card, not a charge. It's released after the car comes back in the condition it left. The deposit covers small things like a curbed wheel. Your own insurance covers damage, subject to your deductible.

Insurance is not in the price, and we don't sell it. Your own auto policy has to cover a rental car that isn't on your policy. That's called non-owner vehicle coverage. It's in your policy or it isn't, and you can't buy it for a weekend. Credit card rental coverage almost never applies, because most card benefits exclude cars worth more than $50k to $75k.

Every Tesla includes 100 miles a day. A multi-day rental pools the allowance, so 2 days gives you 200 miles to spend however you want. After that it's $4 a mile on all three. Picture the Model S Plaid rolling away from South Coast Plaza on Bristol Street in Costa Mesa. You head for the coast and forget to count. An extra 50 miles is $200, which is half a day's rate.

If you know the trip runs long, tell us at booking so the miles are priced in ahead of time. The charge works the same way. Teslas go out charged and come back charged. For a long desert run you plan a charging stop and say so when you book.

How much does it cost to rent a Tesla for a week

A week costs less per day because the discount is automatic. You don't have to ask for it. One or two days are at the full daily rate. After that the price drops by length.

• 3 to 4 days, 10% off.
• 5 to 6 days, 15% off.
• 7 to 13 days, 20% off.
• 14 to 20 days, 30% off.
• 21 to 27 days, 40% off.
• 28 days or more, 50% off.

So a 3 day weekend in the Cybertruck AWD comes to $1,066.50 before the deposit hold. A full week in the Model S Plaid is $2,212, which works out to $316 a day. A week in the $495 Cybertruck is $2,772. Two weeks in either $395 car is $3,871.

A week also changes what the car means. On day one the Cybertruck is an event. By day five it's just what you drive, and you catch yourself parking it at the grocery store while three people film it from the cart return. The week price is the only way to get that feeling for $316 a day.

What $395 and $495 get elsewhere in the fleet

The same money buys two other cars that people often cross-shop against a Tesla. At $495 a day the Porsche Panamera is the natural swap for the Model S Plaid. It's a four seat sedan with 325 hp and the same $1,000 deposit. It's slower by more than three seconds to 60, and it sounds like an engine, which is the point for some drivers.

At $395 a day the black Range Rover Sport is the quiet alternative to the Cybertruck. It has five seats, 355 hp, and a $3 extra mile rate instead of $4. Black on black reads as a private car rather than a rental, and nobody at the valet stand asks you anything about it.

That's the real choice at this price. A Tesla draws the question, and the Porsche and the Range Rover skip it. Decide which one you want before you pick the car.

The cheapest Tesla rental and who it suits

The lowest rate is a tie at $395 a day, the Model S Plaid or the Cybertruck AWD. The Plaid suits a birthday, a bucket list drive, or a friend in the passenger seat with a phone filming their face. It seats five, has a trunk at each end, and a glass roof that runs the length of the car. The yoke steering wheel takes a minute to learn, so give yourself a few blocks before the first launch.

The Cybertruck AWD suits a group, a content shoot, or a weekend with gear. The powered cover slides back over a lockable 6 foot bed with power outlets built in. Rear passengers get their own touchscreen, and air suspension sits at all four corners. We hold one Model S and two Cybertrucks, so about a week of notice is the safe window for either.

The daily rate on a Tesla is the one number that hardly changes. The miles are the number that moves, at $4 each, so plan the route before you plan the car.