Santa Monica-based electric vehicle subscription company NextCar Holding Co. Inc., which does business as Autonomy, announced plans to purchase more than 1,000 new EVs in a $25 million investment.
Secured through SR Alternative Credit and arranged by Finacity Corp., the funding allowed Autonomy to expand its offerings with Volvo and Polestar vehicles to augment its previously all-Tesla fleet. The expansion would also include more price-points.
“What we’ve announced here is really sort of the ability to go well beyond just Teslas,” said Scott Painter, founder and chief executive of Autonomy. “By introducing additional brands, as well as recent model-year and off-lease vehicles, we are expanding access to mobility for a wider range of customers.”
Autonomy operates about 800 vehicles on the road and is acquiring around 1,250 more. It’s also collaborating with Los Angeles-based leading Polestar dealership Galpin Motors and global professional services firm Deloitte to roll out newly acquired Polestar vehicles, scaling its business beyond its current operation in 35 states.
Autonomy offers a month-to-month subscription service paid through a credit card. Customers can download the Autonomy app, subscribe and drive as early as the next day. They can also return the cars with a two weeks’ advance notice. Painter highlighted affordability and convenience as its major selling points.
“You get the car; we handle tax, title, registration, ownership, maintenance, roadside – all of that comes with it,” Painter said. “It allows somebody to get a car with only a credit card and a driver’s license.”
Painter also described Autonomy as a “capital efficient business,” estimating that five to 10 new employees may be sufficient to support the expansion. Autonomy currently has 25 to 40 employees on payroll and hundreds of others supporting the business, according to Painter.
New developments and future plans
Painter has been busy this year with the pending $227 million acquisition of TrueCar Inc., a company he originally launched in 2005, through his firm Fair Holdings Inc. Painter said the January wildfires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades left a gap in EV ownership where he could help people get behind the wheels of these cars without going further into debt.
“Great businesses, great entrepreneurs solve a problem,” Painter said. “The problem that I’ve chosen to focus on for most of my adult life, whether it’s a CarsDirect or TrueCar or Fair or Autonomy, is making access to a car easier and cheaper using technology, Autonomy delivers on that, specifically for electric vehicles.”
The TrueCar take-private deal is expected to close this quarter or in the first quarter of 2026.
Painter said that Autonomy is looking at the Midwest as a potential new market.
“We’re going to follow where consumer registrations for electric cars are emerging,” Painter said. “Autonomy’s goal is to make getting a car as easy as streaming a movie and to do it on the customer’s terms.”
