January 14, 2025

L-Charge Powers EV Rideshare Alto With Energy To-Go

It’s tough to keep a battery-electric rideshare vehicle on the road and making money if there’s no power available to keep the cars charged. But that problem is being solved for one company through a partnership with a tech startup that’s literally hauling juice to power-thirsty rideshare EVs.

To accelerate its transition from internal combustion engine cars to battery-powered vehicles, rideshare platform Alto has partnered with charge-as- a- service company L-Charge.

The Dallas, Texas-based company provides off-grid power through units transported on trailers requiring only a 30-foot 8.5 foot parking space. The units are energized mainly by natural gas—real and synthetic, according to L-Charge CEO Dmitri Lashin.

Each single 180kW charger is equipped with two charging guns. The system can be configured to enable both guns to provide 90kW simultaneously, or for one gun to dispense ultra-fast 180kW charging.

The goal, said Lashin, is to bring power where it’s needed quickly and inexpensively when a customer cannot afford to build a permanent recharging infrastructure right away, or wait for one to be built by a municipality—a growing issue.

“It's not only the U.S. or Europe, it's everywhere,” said Lashin, in an interview. “The grid is not ready to maintain the electric vehicles.”

For Alto, the urgency to keep its EV rideshare fleet is acute, just as the company is transitioning to battery-powered vehicles—currently 350 EVs at its locations in Dallas and Houston, Texas and Los Angeles. Alto operates in six cities overall.

April 23, 2024

Alto Rideshare Launches Its First Fleet of Electric Vehicles in Dallas

As part of its aim to promote "a cleaner, greener rideshare experience," Dallas-based Alto is rolling out 12 fully Alto-branded Kia EV-9’s in the city. The company has also installed EV fast-charging stations at its Dallas depot.

Dallas-based rideshare startup Alto has launched its first fleet of electric vehicles. The company said its customers in Dallas will be seeing new 2024 Kia EV-9 SUVs as part of Alto’s aim to promote “a cleaner, greener rideshare experience.”

Along with the new vehicles comes the installation of EV fast-charging stations at Alto’s Dallas depot, the company said.

Alto said the launch marks the beginning of its fleet electrification plans, setting the groundwork for an additional 100 EVs to the fleet by the end of 2024.

The launch is the first instance of a rideshare company adding a fleet of fully electric cars in Texas, the company said.

Alto provided these details:

• 12 fully Alto-branded Kia EV-9’s in Dallas
• No extra charge for riders to use them
• Installation of fast charging stations at Alto depot
• Upgraded in-vehicle Wi-Fi
• All Alto perks and features included (telemetric tracking for driver monitoring, complimentary beverages, in-car promotions)

January 24, 2024

Alto Review: Why This Rideshare App Might Replace Uber on Your Next Trip

Are you tired of traveling in beat-up cars when you order a rideshare? Do you wish you could have a silent ride without feeling rude? Download Alto next time you need a ride to the airport—this under-the-radar company offers an elevated rideshare experience with a fleet of luxurious SUVs and a fully customizable journey where you control the music, temperature, and conversation.

Alto is a rideshare company that operates on a completely different model from Lyft and Uber. Instead of using independent contractors who drive their own cars, Alto hires highly vetted and trained drivers and gives them a company car for the night. 

Alto drivers are paid per shift instead of per fare, and tipping is not necessary. (There’s no tipping option in the Alto app, but riders could offer a cash tip if they feel inclined.)

Since Alto has its own vehicle fleet, you know you’ll be picked up in a clean and well-maintained Buick Enclave on every ride. The white SUVs are all branded with the Alto logo, and drivers wear Alto gear, so you can feel confident you’re getting in the right vehicle (of course, you should still double-check the license plate.)

The experience is similar to having a private chauffeur—Alto drivers will open car doors, offer water to passengers, and don’t mind waiting or making an extra stop since they’re being paid by the hour and not the mile. 

The clean SUVs are outfitted with car chargers at every seat. Passengers can use the Alto app to choose the music and volume for their ride and can turn on “do not disturb” mode to opt out of conversations.

After an Alto driver completes a ride, he or she will head to a designated waiting area until they are assigned a new pickup. Wait times for on-demand rides with Alto are typically around 10-15 minutes. However, if you don’t want to wait, you can preschedule a ride ahead of time.

January 06, 2023

A Ride Along with the only rideshare that treats its drivers as employees

Since dot.LA covered its launch two years ago, Santa Monica-based rideshare company Alto has hired 300 staff members to join its growing team of drivers. But unlike its competitors, Alto classifies every driver as a W-2 employee.

“They're not gig economy workers that show up whenever they feel,” general manager Sevag Konialian tells dot.LA, “they have hours that correlate with the schedule they signed up with.”

Applicants that are interested in joining the Alto family, as Konialian puts it, must fill out a form online with their desired schedule. Once the application is complete, an Alto member reaches out to the applicant for a remote interview. After the interview, the potential driver will receive a driver training course list that they must complete.

December 20, 2022

Ride-hailing startup offers W-2 employment alternative to app-based drivers

Rideshare startup Alto maintains a branded fleet, which is operated by its drivers who are W-2 employees.

Expansing ride-hailing startup Alto offers unique W-2 employment to drivers, marking a different approach from giants Uber and Lyft.

The 2018 startup launched in Dallas, but has since expanded to Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington D.C. and San Francisco.

March 12, 2022

New Ride-Hailing Service In Bay Area Takes Aim At Uber, Lyft

While Bay Area-based Uber and Lyft have dominated the rideshare industry, a new service launching in parts of the Bay Area hopes to poach not only passengers but drivers as well. The company is called Alto and just launched on the Peninsula. Just like Uber and Lyft – you use an app to call a car, but unlike those companies your driver won’t be a gig worker, but a full time employee with benefits. “We want to deliver benefits for our drivers. We think that’s important, but also, consistent steady hourly wages. You come in to work with Alto – you know what your pay is going to be,” said Adam Vanderpool, Director of Operations for Alto. This all comes after the millions poured into Proposition 22 in 2020 that allowed Uber, Lyft and the like to keep classifying drivers as contractors. Another change, there will be no more roulette as to what kind of vehicle pulls up. Alto owns a fleet of Buick Enclaves and the company said it would transition to all electric in 2023. “I think our customer base really cares about sustainability and I think that’s feedback we’ve got from the beginning,” Vanderpool told KPIX 5.

March 08, 2022

Ride-hailing startup Alto expands with Silicon Valley launch while obeying labor law fought by Uber and Lyft

An on-demand ride-hailing startup with a business model decidedly different from Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. is taking them on in their backyard. Alto launched service in Silicon Valley on Tuesday, making it the sixth U.S. market for the company that decided at its inception to differentiate itself by hiring drivers as employees instead of adopting the gig-economy model of treating them as independent contractors. That business model abides by California law, which Uber and Lyft have tried to subvert with a ballot initiative that was voted into law, but which the companies are now fighting to uphold after a judge declared it unconstitutional. Will Coleman, chief executive and co-founder of Dallas-based Alto, said in an interview with MarketWatch that the startup will start off mostly in Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Mateo and Burlingame with about 50 vehicles, for which it is hiring about 100 drivers. The company, which was founded in 2018, also operates fleets in its hometown of Dallas-Fort Worth, plus Houston, Miami, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. “We have big plans for expansion for the rest of the year,” Coleman said, adding that he expects Alto’s service to expand to other parts of Silicon Valley as demand grows.

March 08, 2022

Dallas-based rideshare service Alto expands into Silicon Valley

• Alto, the Dallas-based rideshare service that employs W-2 workers rather than contractors, is officially open for rides in Silicon Valley. The company launched in Dallas in 2018 and started offering rides in 2019. It aims to be what the pandemic has shown Uber and Lyft struggle to be — a consistent luxury car service for both riders and drivers. Alto now operates in Dallas, Palo Alto, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C. The company grew its revenue 700% annually in 2021. CEO Will Coleman said the expansion into the Silicon Valley region was as strategic as any other new city the company has launched to date. Having grown mostly during the pandemic, it’s looking at cities where mobility is recovering from pandemic lows. Alto also likes to make a splash in cities where regulations have targeted its gig economy rivals, Coleman said. The company made its entrance into California in 2020 while the state was debating a law that allowed ride-share companies to treat drivers as contractors, not employees. Expanding north into the region south of San Francisco this month was the logical next step, Coleman told The Dallas Morning News.

March 08, 2022

Ride-hailing company Alto is launching service in Silicon Valley. Here's what makes it different from Uber and Lyft.

Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. have a new app-based taxi competitor in Silicon Valley. Alto Experience Inc. launched its ride hailing service in the area Tuesday, the company announced in a press release. Unlike its bigger competitors, the Dallas company owns the vehicles used with its service and employs its drivers directly. It also hopes to distinguish itself by offering a premium and safe experience; its drivers have to undergo background checks, while its vehicles are frequently cleaned and maintained and have security cameras installed in them. Additionally, Alto is aiming to have the first company-owned fleet comprised solely of electric vehicles. It expects to be operating 3,000 such vehicles by next year. "It's an exciting time to bring a safe, elevated rideshare experience to Silicon Valley," Alto CEO Will Coleman said in the press release. "The future of ridesharing is electric fleets with employee drivers, and our expansion and continued growth into new markets are important steps in helping us bring this vision to life."

March 08, 2022

Ride-hailing company Alto is launching service in Silicon Valley. Here's what makes it different from Uber and Lyft.

Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. have a new app-based taxi competitor in Silicon Valley. Alto Experience Inc. launched its ride hailing service in the area Tuesday, the company announced in a press release. Unlike its bigger competitors, the Dallas company owns the vehicles used with its service and employs its drivers directly. It also hopes to distinguish itself by offering a premium and safe experience; its drivers have to undergo background checks, while its vehicles are frequently cleaned and maintained and have security cameras installed in them. Additionally, Alto is aiming to have the first company-owned fleet comprised solely of electric vehicles. It expects to be operating 3,000 such vehicles by next year. "It's an exciting time to bring a safe, elevated rideshare experience to Silicon Valley," Alto CEO Will Coleman said in the press release. "The future of ridesharing is electric fleets with employee drivers, and our expansion and continued growth into new markets are important steps in helping us bring this vision to life."

February 28, 2022

Young Workers Rake In Biggest Wage Gains in Tight Labor Market

Alto, a ride-sharing startup, has tried to sweeten the deal for a job that often goes to young workers: new car washers and detailers get a $400 signing bonus if they stay for more than 30 days.“Car-washing can be a lot of moving, outdoors, in the summertime—we need to find the right [candidate] who can do that job,” said Winston Wright, Alto’s Houston general manager. Other incentives kick in later: After six months, employees can qualify for a 401(k) plan, and Alto tries to show young employees pathways to promotions to jobs like delivery supervisor. “When someone can go somewhere else for 50 cents more and there’s not a lot of loyalty, it has paid dividends for us” to provide benefits and offer opportunities for advancement, Mr. Wright said.