Tesla Model 3 RWD Vs LR AWD: Which One Is A Better Earner On Turo?

Both cars were rented out on Turo for one year and covered identical mileages, can you guess which one came on top?

Dan Mihalascu

By: Dan Mihalascu

Jan 18, 2022 at 7:29am ET

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A lot of people are wondering if it’s worth renting out their EVs on Turo. If you’re among them, stay tuned because this video offers some interesting insight.

Exactly one year ago, the folks from The Kilowatts YouTube channel purchased two Tesla Model 3s with the goal of offering them up for rent on Turo and see which one will rake in more earnings.

The rear-wheel-drive Model 3 Standard Range (now simply called Model 3 RWD) cost them $41,415 while the Model 3 Long Range AWD with the optional FSD package set them back $58,500. Later on, the latter also received a vinyl wrap that added some $1,000 to the tally.

The idea behind this experiment was to see if Turo users would be inclined to pay more to rent the more expensive and capable model or they would generally prefer the less expensive version.

The video breaks down the year-long experiment, revealing the financials to show how the two Model 3s performed on Turo. For starters, it must be said that each EV covered 35,000 miles (56,300 km), so the comparison is valid from an earnings per mileage standpoint.

The base Tesla Model 3 recorded an average trip length of 3.3 days while the Model 3 Long Range AWD averaged 4.3 days. The average price per day was $118 for the former and $135 for the latter, which clearly suggests that the more expensive model was more appealing for Turo users.

However, that’s only part of the story. When it comes to the total utilization for each car over the course of one year, the base car recorded 190 days, five days more than the more expensive version.

What do you think?

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Overall, the RWD car brought in a revenue of $21,821 while the AWD one totaled $22,496. That’s not a big difference at all, and the base Model 3 is clearly the winner, thanks to a much higher return on investment than the Model 3 Long Range AWD in this particular case.

The video above has more information, including the repairs these two cars required and why these folks see Teslas as generally the best EVs to rent out on Turo.