ELOOP, a car-sharing company based in Vienna, has integrated over 100 of its Teslas into the peaq ecosystem, a blockchain company co-founded by Maltese tech entrepreneur Max Thake.

ELOOP allows its members to buy part of a Tesla – think of it like a share in a company – and earn income on it when it is being used by others.

The car-sharing model is entirely absent from Malta since Go-To announced it is pulling out of the market last year, but Mr Thake hopes that the model his company is helping pioneer on the continent can inspire local entrepreneurs to build their own solutions to Malta’s much publicised mobility problems.

Speaking to WhosWho.mt, he believes that blockchain-powered mobility solutions can have a big role to play in incentivising a more efficient use of resources.

One of ELOOP's peaq-powered Teslas

“Imagine Uber, but without the Uber company in between the customer and the owner,” he says. Or, for that matter, Go-To, without Go-To in between.

By tokenising the cars through peaq, which is designed ease the integration of Internet of Things into the blockchain, ELOOP decentralises ownership and allows the community to earn income and benefit from the operation of its assets.

“To tokenise something is to create a digital token representing that thing,” explains Mr Thake. “This token can be broken into smaller pieces, each of which is unique and has rights associated with it.

“As the Teslas provide car-sharing services - in other words, people rent and drive them via an app - the Tesla generates revenue.

“Now instead of the €20 made from a car-sharing journey going to one company, as is traditionally the case, the €20 is split by the owners of the tokens. You can apply this to one Tesla, or to a fleet of hundreds and one day thousands of Teslas.”

In its announcement of the collaboration, peaq said that Web3.0 “allows people to do the same things we do today, but cheaper, faster, more securely - and according to a model which works for the individual, the community, and the planet.”

Continuing the analogy of company shares, Mr Thake underlines the absence of intermediaries, third parties, or middlemen in this model. “You own the token which represents the fleet of Teslas, and the earning rights associated with it.”

ELOOP handles the legal side of things, but the income from its operations is accrued by its fleet’s many owners, who are also the users.

“Thus, if you’re a token holder, you can even earn from your own ride on one of the tokenised EVs.”

More details about the initiative can be found on peaq's website.