To Launch a Premium Ride Service, Lyft Helps Drivers Buy a Fleet of Fancy Ford Explorers

Peer-to-peer ride-sharing service Lyft has hooked up a group of its best San Francisco drivers with outside financing so they can buy Ford Explorers for a new premium ride service called Lyft Plus that costs twice as much as a normal Lyft.

The cars themselves are in the names of the drivers, who can use them for their normal lives as well, said a spokeswoman.

Lyft will supply kits for cleaning the cars, which have custom brushed-steel mustache grilles and backseat recharging outlets, and help keep them stocked with spring water and chocolate.

Starting today in San Francisco, passengers can opt to hail a normal Lyft or a fancy Lyft Plus from their smartphone apps. The company says Lyft Plus costs 20 percent less than its rival Uber, which gives you a pretty clear sense of where the motivation for the new service came from.

TechCrunch first reported details of the service.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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