{"id":28329,"date":"2024-10-11T18:15:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T07:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/luxuryescapes.com\/inspiration\/?p=28329"},"modified":"2025-01-10T10:14:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T23:14:57","slug":"turo-road-trip-adelaide-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/luxuryescapes.com\/inspiration\/turo-road-trip-adelaide-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"South Australia Road Trip: Why Car-Sharing Could Be Your Next Travel Obsession"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Discover hidden gems in the picturesque Adelaide Hills with a stylish road trip powered by car-sharing app Turo<\/a>. From biodynamic farms to winery lunches, here\u2019s why an electric car might become your new travel obsession.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a kid, Michael Knight\u2019s futuristic car, KITT, in Knight Rider was my dream ride: a talking car with pulsating red lights, hidden weaponry and a voice like a highly paid therapist. Now, as an adult, faced with a real-life, tech-packed vehicle, a pearlescent Tesla Model 3, I struggle to get it out of the airport carpark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tesla Model 3 is as much computer as car. Most of the operations run from a 13-inch touchpad, you open it via an app, start it without a key and it even has a beta-testing self-driving mode (that is not yet legal in Australia). A computer degree might help to adjust the wing mirrors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why my host (and car owner), Natallia, is a godsend. She sits next to me and patiently explains the car\u2019s technical wizardry like I\u2019m a toddler with my first iPad. I am in Adelaide trying out a new car-sharing app called Turo that aims to disrupt car hire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing your road trip wheels <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Tesla<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Booking a car through Turo is like borrowing your mate\u2019s mint ride. Unlike conventional car hire, you get exactly the car you booked, you often get a friendly handover from the owner and you get wider range of choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur superpower is really unique selection,\u201d says Turo Australia VP and managing director Tim Rossanis. \u201cThe more different types of vehicles that we have, the more unique experiences we can facilitate for guests, people come to Turo because they want to enhance their journey.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other advantages include having the cars spread over a wider geographical area than rental car company hubs and Turo\u2019s stated aim of utilising idle cars more efficiently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have millions of cars in this country, but billions across the world, that are in circulation so why not use those instead of buying new cars,\u201d Tim says. \u201cMost cars sit idle 90 or 95 per cent of the time. When I think about my cars if they are not picking up the kids and dropping them off, they are just sitting in the driveway.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

KITT and I finally make our way out of the parking garage and onto the broad boulevards of the Adelaide CBD. The \u201cregenerative braking\u201d takes some getting used to; when you remove your foot from the accelerator the car brakes and feeds any surplus power back to the battery. Great for battery life, offputting to a newbie Tesla driver, but I am happy I was forewarned by Natallia or I would think KITT really was sentient. We pull up to our Adelaide digs, the perfectly positioned Hotel Indigo in the midst of the Adelaide markets, and turn in for the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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