Aidan McClean – UFO Drive

What’s it all about?

Disruption, I love cleantech disruption, and if ever there was a market that needed disruption it was car rental. On so many levels. And that is exactly what Aidan McClean has done. We talk about that, but also the transition from corporate to start-up life, the challenges of starting from scratch, fundraising, hiring, family life, EV and Clean Energy myths and host of other topics in this fascinating chat. My first podcast recorded in a Tesla Model 3 too.

About Aidan McClean: 

Aidan McClean is an entrepreneur and clean technology investor who co-founded the world’s first all-digital all-electric car rental company, UFODRIVE. He is passionate about exposing the truths beyond the hype
around the rise of electric vehicles. His extensive research led to him writing his explosive book ELECTRIC REVOLUTION, published in March 2022.

A keen cyclist and outdoorsman, Aidan was not an early adopter or advocate for electric vehicles, or particularly aware of environmental matters. However, the more he researched air pollution, climate change and the impact of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, the more passionate he became about the role electric vehicles will play in averting the impending climate disaster.

About UFO Drive

Aidan left behind a successful 25-year career in the financial services sector in 2017 to found UFODRIVE with his business partner and COO, Renaud Marquet. UFODRIVE was born out of a desire to help accelerate the move to clean mobility and a passion for great customer experience, guided by the following principles: easy booking; no queuing; no paperwork; great cars; transparent, all-inclusive, simple pricing; no confusing insurance options; no refuelling; and great value for money.

McClean and Marquet set out to examine the car rental business in detail and understand what customers really want. In tandem they studied the coming revolution in electric cars. By combining the smartphone revolution with the coming electric car revolution, UFODRIVE has developed something unique. Its car rental location - the ‘UFO Landing Bay’ - is where customers can arrive and drive – all with just their smartphone. UFODRIVE now has 18 locations across 8 countries in Europe with many more opening, including in North America and beyond.

In February 2022, UFODRIVE announced a $19m series A investment round, led by Hertz. Following blind-tests of the UFODRIVE platform, the global car rental giant had decided that it was the future of direct-to-car, contactless, electric car rental. Hertz will use the UFODRIVE Software as a Service (SaaS) platform for the end-to-end management of its new fleet.

Social links

Aidan McClean on LinkedIn: (99+) Aidan McClean | LinkedIn
Aidan McClean on Twitter Aidan McClean (@AidanMcClean) / Twitter
Aidan McClean website: Aidan McClean
UFO Drive website: UFODRIVE | Radically Better Car Rental | Easy, Exciting & Electric
UFO Drive on Twitter: UFODRIVE (@UFODriveTweets) / Twitter
UFO Drive on Instagram: UFODRIVE - A Better Car Rental (@ufodrive) • Instagram photos and videos

EPISODE LINKS

ELECTRIC REVOLUTION: Myths & Truths about Electric Vehicles and Climate Disaster ELECTRIC REVOLUTION: Myths & Truths about Electric Vehicles and Climate Disaster: Amazon.co.uk: McClean, Aidan: 9789998790216: Books

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