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Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF
- noonespecial 10y agoFor all of the ridiculous "fire professionals" because safety hrmmm huuhh drep mentioned in the articles, let me just point out that this(1) is a thing that already drives fairly recklessly through the neighborhoods in my town delivering fuel and doesn't seem to do half of the things these car-fuel delivery companies do to deal with spillage issues. (1) http://jamesheatingoil.net/Members/1/galleries/Oil_Truck/oil%20truck.JPG http://jamesheatingoil.net/Members/1/galleries/Oil_Truck/oil... Edit: Also and aside... the last driver I saw hop out and fill a tank from one of these trucks chain smoked during the entire fill. ?!!!
- refurb 10y agoI was thinking the same thing. You see a lot of construction vehicles driving around with large tanks in the back of the pick-up. I wonder what certification they require? That said, gasoline is a LOT more flammable than fuel oil or diesel. The later two burn, while gasoline vapors almost explode when ignited.
- CamperBob2 10y agoIf oil trucks are driving recklessly through your neighborhood, you should call the police, not your Congressman.
- tjsnyder 10y agoThe safety issues of this seem far too high to ignore. What happens the first time something catches on fire? Will they fill up inside of a parking garage? What about a home garage? How do leaks get handled, small and large?
- nick007 10y agoSafety is our #1 priority. Our trucks and all of our components have been inspected and approved by several industry experts and authorities. There are a lot of details here, but the "tldr" is that transporting gasoline and refueling cars requires caution, but it's a solved problem.
- tjsnyder 10y agoI'm curious about the steps taken actually. Are you approved in the State of California by the state board as a fuel delivery/transportation company? Do you intend to go to court if not? http://law.justia.com/codes/california/2015/code-hsc/division-26/part-5/chapter-1.5/section-43026/ http://law.justia.com/codes/california/2015/code-hsc/divisio...
- macandcheese 10y agoHow do they open your gas tank? I think the most interesting part is their partnership with Firestone... On demand car servicing while you are at work seems like it solves a bigger problem than filling up with gas.
- city41 10y agoI wonder if there has been a roadblock to that that needs solving. Because replacing auto glass while you're at work has been a thing for a very long time.
- j3FF3ry 10y agoRight, most of the time you would meet the technician and unlock your car or hand them the keys until they are done. They don't just walk up to a locked car and replace the glass. I am sure on some care with out and alarm sensor on the windshield they would almost be able to replace the glass without the keys. I am sure that's a rarity though. I have a friend that works in the industry. I'll bring this up to him and see what he says.
- macandcheese 10y agoMy guess? Quick-service car maintenance is profitable because they can be efficient. They have a guy at Jiffy Lube "below deck" so the car doesn't need to be jacked, lifted, or crawled under to start draining the oil. The second you lose "home court" you lose any procedural efficiency your business has. I have enough trouble crawling under my car in my own driveway, I can't imagine having to work on a car in a corporate parking lot, surrounded by others. It's also messy, so I'd imagine it's pretty hard to do anything while making sure the cars parked half a foot away, are clean and untouched. Glass replacement at least is relatively self contained.
- ehnto 10y agoThat is honestly my biggest question, they gloss over it in the article but surely accessing a gas tank without the keys to the vehicle just means they have found a way to break into the fuel cap reliably for different models? The way it was written in the article suggests that, but perhaps they are just giving users some proprietary hardware to put on the car.
- naveen99 10y agoI like it. Gas stations can be unsafe places in some cities. Not to mention the pain of having to get out of your car in -20 degree weather in other places. Also air sensors are frequently inaccurate at many gas station air pumps.
- HamSession 10y agoThis is a rolling lawsuit waiting to happen. Those that invested must really be hungry for something unique.
- trevorcreech 10y ago"... allows Yoshi to access any car’s tank, even if the gas flap is locked." Very curious how this works.
- cdibona 10y agoCrowbar. It's super high tech. Seriously though, I'd like to know too. everything I can think of is either expensive/time consuming (syncing generic new wireless keys, copying physical keys), potentially damaging to the car, or require the provisioning of something that you leave plugged into the obd-2 port. That latter one you could do with 15$ in parts and a cavalier disregard for the cars security, so that could be it?
- nick007 10y agoGood question. We created a device (that we call a "Fuel Vault") that we can install in your car's "gas flap." We'll require that you leave your car's gas flap popped open for your first fill-up so that we can install it. After that, we'll be able to get into your gas flap anytime. It doesn't require any permanent modifications to your car, and can be removed anytime.
- maxerickson 10y agoDoes your device have the same security properties as the typical fuel door?
- CamperBob2 10y agoLocking gas doors are pretty pointless these days, unless you're worried about someone giving you the sugar-in-the-gas-tank treatment. All cars made for the last several years have anti-siphoning measures built into the line to the gas tank.
- rapind 10y ago1. Paint Yoshi sign on Truck so it looks like you're supposed to be there messing with the car's gas. 2. Use something like GasTapper (literally first google hit) on apparently uncrackable gas tanks. 3. Profit?
- danhak 10y agoI've never owned a car in a city as dense as SF or New York so maybe it's different in places like that, but this strikes me as yet another example of the "Uber-For-X" SV startup that doesn't solve any real problem. Stopping by the gas station once a week on my way home is simply not a big enough annoyance for me to subscribe to yet another service. I'm also skeptical of the long-term prospects of this business model based on the rise of transportation-as-a-service and the inevitable demise of gasoline in favor of EV's. Both of those factors will be especially pronounced in the Bay Area, where this startup hopes to gain a foothold.
- lallysingh 10y agoAgreed. What would be better is if they were full service and actually had good coffee that they'd bring to your window.
- sealthedeal 10y agoNow this is a business. Coffee delivery on a motor cycle, they deliver it to you when you are sitting in traffic. #trafficoffeebro
- nick007 10y agoHm, I like this idea. But our customers aren't usually at their cars while we're filling them up, so the coffee might often get cold
- lallysingh 10y agoI meant for regular gas stations. I'm in NJ so I'm used to sitting while getting full service refueling.
- noer 10y agoFurthermore, Uber solved a problem in a market with inefficiencies and use regulation arbitrage to do it. This is just an on demand service betting on the fact that people are lazy enough to not want to put gas into their car. IMO, there are bigger (or actual) problems to solve. Honestly, I wonder why they didn't launch in Chicago or Boston in the winter when weather would make people not want to bother going outside.
- Alupis 10y ago> The company has engineered its own gas delivery trucks with a proprietary system, called the Fuel Vault, which allows Yoshi to access any car’s tank, even if the gas flap is locked I'd like to know what a glamorized fuel cell has to do with somehow circumventing the lock on many gas caps. I imagine it's some sort of tool that somehow defeats the locks on such gas caps and flaps, which poses interesting questions about legality (as they acknowledge in the post). I certainly would not signup for a service that risks breaking or damaging my vehicle, nor am I about to hand over keys to my vehicle either. How large of a market is there for this really? Frankly, is this a problem really needing solving? This company must charge a premium for the service, which makes your fillups cost more than if you just spent the 2 minutes it takes to pump your own gas.
- teuobk 10y agoThis is just a guess, but perhaps it's a very strong magnet? Many gas flap locks seem to be simple solenoids, and it's often relatively simple to change the state of a solenoid using a powerful magnet. Certain low-end electronic-lock safes are susceptible to similar attacks (that's part of the reason why better electronic-lock safes use motor-driven bolts instead of solenoids).
- Alupis 10y agoMy car (a 2015 Ford Focus) has an actual metal tooth + clamp style lock (like a seat-belt kind of). Without putting something into the lock that prevents it from catching, I don't see how they can unlock my gas flap without somehow allowing other's to unlock it as well.
- dougdonohoe 10y agoAnother startup for things your parents used to do for you.
- tantalor 10y agoYour parents pumped gas for your car...?
- sliverstorm 10y agoI think he's referring to when you were little, and they were driving.
- ars 10y agoWhen I was little and they were driving I used to fill gas. It was great fun using the credit card and everything else. Very sad to see "must be a licensed driver to pump gas" signs everywhere these days :(
- ams6110 10y agoWhen I was little you pulled into the gas station, and a teenage kid sprinted from the garage, pumped your gas, washed your windows, and checked your oil, took your payment, and you never had to leave your seat.
- fred256 10y agoThis article from a few months ago comes to mind: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/gas-delivery-startups-want-to-fill-up-your-car-anywhere-is-that-allowed http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/gas-delive...
- ChuckMcM 10y agoI was wondering about that as well since TC makes no mention on what the fall out was from that. There was a joke going around about the "Farm Service startup, big trucks full of fertilizer and diesel fuel going from farm to farm to top up their supplies. What could possibly go wrong with that?" But more seriously, there are three things here that I can see from a public policy/safety viewpoint that have to be controlled for; Spillage (fuel is a hazardous substance), fire (you really need to control open flames when you're refilling, so you need to control the location), and transport (are your supply vehicles adequately protected in the event of a crash, are they marked so that first responders can understand the risks). It isn't something we do a lot of but sometimes when we are on our way to camping our motor home is running its fridge on propane. There is an open flame somewhere that is feeding the heat pump. We turn it off when we go into a gas station but if someone parked next to us, they would probably not know that it wouldn't be a good place to have their car refueled. Hard to know what is going on exactly in your environment.
- TillE 10y ago> “If it was illegal, they would have and should have told us many months ago.” I love this quote so much.
- ben_jones 10y ago> “If it was illegal, they would have and should have told us many months ago.” Said the man to his cellmate.
- tlrobinson 10y agoI'm adding gasoline delivery to the list of startups which should absolutely not "move fast and break things" or "beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission" > "We haven't talked to them. I don't know about that. It’s news to me" > "You can never ask for permission because no one will give it"
- physcab 10y agoI've seen Booster Fuels trucks around at a company I used to work at. To me this makes the most sense as a perk offered by a company not in a major city, that has huge parking lots of cars. I used to commute to Santa Clara 3x a week from SF and needed to re-fuel every week. If the company offered the service as a perk with me just paying for gas, that would be pretty convenient no-brainer.
- nick007 10y agoYes, we actually do do this, and we're now a corporate perk at several companies in the areas we service. We also let people sign-up and start getting serviced at lots where we aren't sponsored by a company too.
- MBlume 10y agoI'd be a little angry if I worked at that company. What are they doing for the folks who don't drive in every day?
- softawre 10y agoWhat about all of the things that are just at the company HQ? My big software company has a clinic, gym, cafe, etc. onsite, but we have remote employees. Same thing, right?
- op00to 10y agoI'm constantly sore that as a remote employee I don't get cupcakes and free beer and all the other shit that's provided at HQ. But then again, I rarely ever have to take a day off when I have errands to run.
- rconti 10y agoConsidering this is a much newer "perk" than existing transit subsidies, I'm guessing they probably provide discounted Caltrain passes and the like.
- jessaustin 10y ago
- a_small_island 10y agoWhen I saw the first picture of the article, I thought the premise was that you could get your gas filled while you were actually driving like a plane refueling in the sky. That's not what it is though.
- nick007 10y agoNot quite... I like that idea better, it's just a lot harder unfortunately. We're starting with stationary fill-ups only
- nick007 10y agoHi, I'm one of the founders. Happy to answer any questions!
- mring33621 10y agoI actually think this is a pretty good idea, especially if you can also handle the annoying, piddly maintenance stuff, like tire pressure, fluids and perhaps oil changes for me.
- Alupis 10y ago> fluids and perhaps oil changes for me You're wanting a full service mechanic to come out to you. That's not what this service is (nor do I think you can commercially change oil and other fluids in random parking lots).
- softawre 10y agoHere you are, on HN, saying why things aren't possible. Yet these guys are out there making them work. Food for thought.
- Alupis 10y ago> Here you are, on HN, saying why things aren't possible. Yet these guys are out there making them work. Food for thought Just because someone has an idea doesn't make it a sound idea, nor legal. Changing vehicle fluids commercially in random parking lots is not allowed in a lot of places, for fairly obvious reasons. And frankly, the company this thread is about even acknowledges the legality of what they are doing may be shaky. Driving around town with hundreds of gallons of fuel is likely to make certain regulatory bodies unhappy. In another article, the San Franciso fire department stated fuel delivery services were not permitted[1]. [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/gas-delivery-startups-want-to-fill-up-your-car-anywhere-is-that-allowed http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/gas-delive...
- 10y ago
- killion 10y agoI've had a couple of fill-ups with Yoshi since signing up a few weeks ago. It's been great for my Mountain View commutes so I don't have to lose more time with my family because I had to stop for gas on the way home.
- skynetv2 10y agosolution in search of a problem? Gas stations are not sparse, there is one on every corner.
- gberger 10y agoOr is there? http://www.wnyc.org/story/say-goodbye-manhattans-gas-stations-heres-map/ http://www.wnyc.org/story/say-goodbye-manhattans-gas-station...
- mjmahone17 10y agoNot sure I want a gas truck driving into parking structures in the middle of Manhattan to top-up private cars. That seems like a serious health and safety hazard. And there really is no excuse for Manhattan needing to have numerous gas stations: the island is small and accessible to vehicles from other boroughs. Plus Manhattan has more than a gas station per square mile, which is more than most suburbs I know of.
- duderific 10y agoFor people in a constant time crunch, this service is quite appealing. You always seem to wind up short on gas at the worst possible time, or notice that your tire is low on air when you are not able to make a stop. As the parent of a two-year-old, I can definitely see a need for this. It would be a great gift for new parents, for example. The price seems a tad high for me personally, but as can be seen by them already being profitable, clearly many people are willing to pay for it.
- ohitsdom 10y ago> Today, the company’s fuel delivery drivers are 1099 contractors Why? Even if truck driving jobs tend to be contract positions, this isn't any driving job. And it certainly isn't uber.
- Animats 10y agoThat may not fly for long. DoL is cracking down. Their drivers need a commercial drivers license with a hazmat endorsement.[1] There's also a TSA background check before you get to drive a gasoline tanker, even a small one. Why doesn't the fueling vehicle have a full-sized hazmat diamond, like every other fuel truck in the US? [1] https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/cdl_htm/sec9 https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/cdl_htm/sec9
- forgetsusername 10y ago>Why doesn't the fueling vehicle have a full-sized hazmat diamond, like every other fuel truck in the US? HN generally assumes such regulations are merely the work of corrupt politicians in the corporate pockets trying to slow disruption.
- ams6110 10y agoThat was a big question for me too. They story says they engineered proprietary delivery trucks and based on the photo they are emblazoned with Yoshi branding. A true contractor would have to own the truck and likely would have his/her own business branding on the truck and would be free to work for any similar service.
- ryandrake 10y agoI'm curious about how the customer knows they are getting the grade of gasoline that they paid for. The stuff that comes directly out of the pump is periodically measured by regulators. What assurance does the Yoshi customer get that they are not getting 87 after paying for 91?
- xyience 10y agoHow do you know the stuff at the gas station is actually 91 and not 87, how do you know the regulators do their jobs properly and aren't bought out by Big Oil? The answer to all questions is that random private individuals or groups do the tests. If it's a big enough concern among their customers, some of them will do it. Some customers at regular gas stations already do these tests on their own because not all gas stations are the same. (A few people even make their own gas.)
- toephu2 10y agoThey could give you the receipt or scan it and send it to your phone..
- jessaustin 10y agoService stations intending to defraud might be more likely to adjust their volume measurements than to mix their octanes? Either way, I don't see why one should trust the local station more than this service.
- elmar 10y agoI am seeing a bigger picture here, on-demand services for your car, mechanical repairs, washing etc the gas is only to get the ball rolling. Yoshi is a really cool name :)
- joelg236 10y agoAlso relevant [0] 0: https://www.yourmechanic.com/ https://www.yourmechanic.com/
- elmar 10y agoit's a several trillion market, loots of room for "me too plus some functionality extra" companies, or simply a better product than competition.
- Jwoozy 10y agohttp://cdn.thisiswhyimbroke.com/images/yoshi-go-kart.jpg http://cdn.thisiswhyimbroke.com/images/yoshi-go-kart.jpg
- tlrobinson 10y agoSeems like there's potential for partnerships with car-sharing companies like Zipcar, Getaround, etc. Do they currently outsource refueling?
- superuser2 10y agoYes, to their customers. With Getaround you need to go to a gas station and refill the car to a specified level (typically full) every trip, no exceptions ever, even if you only used it to move your groceries 10 blocks. OTOH, the hourly price is lower. With Zipcar you must return the tank at least 1/3rd (maybe it's 1/4th) full, but there is a gas card in the visor. They're apparently using some kind of fleet management system, because the gas pump itself prompts you for the odometer value and your "driver ID" number (on your Zipcard) before fueling. Same interface at competing gas stations, so it's apparently a standard thing. It's a bit unpleasant because you can't cut the reservation time too close to your needs - need to allow extra time to go to a gas station and back.
- tlrobinson 10y agoI guess I'm just lucky, I've never gotten a Zipcar that was close to the minimum fuel level. For some reason I thought at least Zipcar augmented customer refueling with trucks that refueled the fleet.
- Nullabillity 10y agoSort of. Car2go gives you credits for refueling the car, for example.
- nick007 10y agoNice idea. I don't think they do
- emmiechang 10y agoI just emailed customer support at Enterprise Car Share and shared them your TC article. They have a lot of cars in SF and they could probably benefit from you guys--especially since their cars are sitting in lots all day. It could be a great lead source!
- princetontiger 10y agoThis is like the late 90s. Startup bubble. The world is moving to EVs. Not sure how this is a tech startup?
- CamperBob2 10y agoI think a dozen people have made this comment so far, and I don't get it at all. Is there some reason why the refueling services can't drive around with a truck full of batteries, instead of a truck full of gas?
- joelg236 10y agoI'm assuming the argument is that at home, you'd just recharge from your house's power. So the use case is diminished in that sense.
- camtarn 10y agoTakes quite a while to recharge a battery, compared to pumping fuel - the trucks would be much more limited in the number of customers they could serve per day. Also, as electricity is much cheaper domestically, price-sensitive customers would have a much higher incentive to just plug in themselves.
- ams6110 10y agoStatistically speaking, nobody is driving EVs. Yet. This kind of business may have a 10 or 20 year realistic opportunity, but that's enough time to make a lot of money.
- jsprogrammer 10y agoWhat are the carbon costs of this service? Is less carbon burned into the atmosphere because of this service? Or, more? Is there a public analysis that we can view? Edit: Really? Buried to the bottom for environmental concern questions? Is this another case of YCombinator being unable to adequately respond to critical questions?
- astrodust 10y agoI'm not even sure what you're saying.
- jsprogrammer 10y agoCarbon being released into the atmosphere is believed to be one of the main contributors to rapid climate change. Gasoline is a liquid of hydrogen and carbon. When it is burned, the carbon and hydrogens are broken apart and the carbon joins with oxygen and is then typically allowed to escape in to the atmosphere. This service is hauling around, presumably large amounts of, gasoline, likely using a hydro-carbon burning engine. Usually this gasoline is taken straight to large tanks where many vehicles may come to refill. With this service, much work must be done to move around the gasoline to the vehicles, wherever they might be. I want to know how much carbon is released into the atmosphere by this service over (or under) the current alternative.
- ams6110 10y agoNot enough to worry about, in the context of the total number of cars on the road.
- jsprogrammer 10y agoThis service will not expand to all cars?
- ams6110 10y agoNo. It won't. A small minority of people will find a service like this valuable. Most people will continue to buy gas the way they do today, until and unless EVs really become practical.
- zappo2938 10y agoThey have had this service in yachting for years.[0] The best is being close enough for a fuel truck to reach.[1]When I was in St. Thomas Carlos Slim's crew were fueling his yacht Helo[2] with the only line that would reach far enough down the dock which only pumps about 25 gallons a minute. The engineers had to hold watch day and night until it was filled. [0] http://www.petersonfuel.com/ http://www.petersonfuel.com/ [1] http://www.lukfuel.com/ http://www.lukfuel.com/ [2] https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/61/f8/9a/61f89a5b5b122c18ff0f6bd0f193905d.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/61/f8/9a/61f89a5b5...
- aresant 10y agoI think the HN crowd underestimates how valuable target users consider their time. I probably average 2 trips to the gas station a month and I have a below average commute. Each trip takes me 10 mins out of my way + 10 mins of fueling depending on if there's a line or not. And it's always before work (I'm in a rush) or after work (want to get home to family). Paying a startup $15/mo to reclaim even 40 mins a month of my personal time is a no brainer.
- jdUltim 10y ago"simple services like filling up the air in a car’s tires, replacing windshield wiper blades and washing cars, as well." Yes, please!
- kamaal 10y ago>>Paying a startup $15/mo to reclaim even 40 mins a month of my personal time is a no brainer. Just asking, how do you wish to spend those 40 mins you are likely to save per month? Which you will likely get in installments of 20 minutes per 15 days(avg 1 minute/day).
- jgalt212 10y agoIf you're rushing to get home before your young children go to bed, you simply cannot put a price on those extra 40 minutes.
- maxerickson 10y agoIf you are rushing to get home before your young children go to bed, haven't you likely already put a price on those minutes?
- jgalt212 10y ago> cannot put a price is French for the demand is inelastic
- kamaal 10y ago
- doublerebel 10y agoThere are already self-driving cars and robotic gas pumps [1], how long before this service runs itself? [1] http://www.popsci.com/article/cars/robotic-gas-pumps-are-coming-soon http://www.popsci.com/article/cars/robotic-gas-pumps-are-com...
- tdaltonc 10y agoI have automatic in my car, and it can read my gas gage. Could I just loop it in on this process and never have to think about gas again?
- nick007 10y agoWe don't have an API yet that something like automatic can report your gas gauge to. Though it's something we're thinking about. However, the way that the service works now, it wouldn't save you anything in the average case. We come by and fill your car up regularly (usually once or twice a week) without you having to "order" when you need it. Unless you take a long trip and need a fill-up off-cycle, you shouldn't need to ever use the app to call for gas once you are setup.
- mwfunk 10y agoI'm curious about trademark issues WRT the company having the same name as a well-known Nintendo character. IANAL, and I know that the context in which a name is used affects whether or not the name is protected, but I've got to think that if (for example) I started an extremely not-video-game-related company named "Pikachu" that I would likely get some heat for it, even if it was just a toothless nastygram from a lawyer asking me nicely to not use the name. Is the name "Yoshi" not as protected for whatever reason (more common name/word/etc.), or is this just a case where the company is in a different industry therefore Nintendo's protection doesn't apply, or is this a risky thing to do? I'm just genuinely curious about how this stuff works, I have no stake in any of it. It's a great name and I wish the startup the best.
- TillE 10y agoYoshi is an actual Japanese name.
- hkmurakami 10y agoIt's only part of a name. Examples of a "full" name including Yoshi: Yoshida, Yoshinori, Yoshiko, Yoshimoto, etc.
- ehnto 10y agoStill, I can't trademark Ben, part of Benjamin.
- OoTheNigerian 10y agoGuys, guy, can you look beyond what you see today? Filling gas is merely an MVP. The goal at the minimum is to manage every car post purchase Gas is merely a way to start the relationship between the car and the owner. car servicing is a massive low hanging fruit after the gas one. Presently my car is over a month due for servicing, I'll happily pay 15% more to get someone come do it where I parked it. My suggestion to the founders would be to test switching between "refuelling" tagline and "serving where you are" and see which converts better. I believe too many people who need the second will dismiss you on seeing the mundane first. Best of luck!
- fweespeech 10y agoI agree with you and it seems to be a semi-proven model with https://www.yourmechanic.com/ https://www.yourmechanic.com/ being the leader in that sort of thing atm.
- whamlastxmas 10y agoI've tried two of these services and both never responded to my request.
- fweespeech 10y agoReally? I've had no trouble with YourMechanic. I've never used Yoshi...but I have a gas station at the end of my block and I talk to the owner every so often so I'd feel weird cutting him off like that. xD
- camtarn 10y ago"Please replace my burned-out headlight bulb" would be super useful as well.
- steven777400 10y agoAgreed. The great thing is, they don't even need to be the mechanic, they just need to have the relationship. I work 6 am to 6 pm most days, so whenever my car needs even an oil change it's a huge hassle to coordinate (or means giving up what feels like half a day off). I'd totally pay a bit extra to have someone pickup my car from the work parking lot, take it for an oil change and whatever other squawks I've identified, etc, and return it. Of course, the downside is that most cars don't get oil changes very often (compared to fueling), so they would need a LOT of customers to make this work.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- gnicholas 10y agoHaving started driving in the age of 99¢/gal gas, I am highly sensitive to price differences between stations, and I choose between 3 stations that are always within 5¢ of each other. I am typically not so price sensitive (with other purchases), but with gas I make minor schedule/route deviations to save <75¢ on a fill up. Curiously, because this startup charges a monthly convenience/subscription charge—instead of an incremental fuel charge—I was actually willing to consider it. But when I did the math, it didn't come close to making sense. Having a service like this would save me some amount of time, I suspect that if I significantly relaxed my fueling station choices, it would cost me much less than $15/mo, and the inconvenience of filling up would be diminished nearly to zero. There are stations very near where I live, so route deviations would disappear, and the lines are never very long. Basically, I think part of the allure of a service like Yoshi is it removes the decision paralysis that results from having many different gas stations available, and having to choose when/where to fill up. Ultimately not a game-changer for me, but I appreciate that it makes me consider alternatives!
- michaelmior 10y ago> instead of an incremental fuel charge You're still paying separately for the fuel. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your comment.
- gnicholas 10y agoMy point was that I am very sensitive to few-cent differences in the price of gas, because when I first started driving, each penny difference was a 1% difference in the gas price. Now that gas is roughly triple that (here in sunny CA, at any rate), each penny is 1/3 of 1% difference. So in my case, I'm more (psychologically, if irrationally) open to paying a "convenience fee" than a surcharged gas price.
- pbreit 10y agoYou have that degree of decision paralysis over 50 cents?
- 10y ago
- kirykl 10y agoEven if this never nets a profit on the service, big Gas has deep enough pockets to make it worth a potential sell out exit
- jedmeyers 10y agoThat's kind of similar to how airplanes are getting filled up at KPAO. Fueling truck comes by, doesn't see a white mark on the right tire - refuels to the max. In the end it saves a lot of time, because you don't have to worry about filling it up.
- GirlsCanCode 10y agoDoesn't everyone here in the Bay Area have a Tesla? I just plug my car in and forget it.
- tinbad 10y agoI'm probably the only one here who actually enjoys taking a break from my commute to pull over, refuel and get a drink/snack while I'm at it. But I can totally see where this would work (depending on how much one drives). I can see my wife use this to not have to deal with getting gas, especially when she drives our two babies around. I wonder if they offer both regular and premium gas as my car needs premium (would be good info to have in their website before I'm forced to download the app). Also, reading on their website they claim it's better for the environment to not have to drive to a gas station. Again, this depends on the location, but where I live (SF Bay Area) there's a gas station on almost every main intersection of roads so it's hard to believe that that would take me more gas than for them to have it drive out to my office.
- yeukhon 10y agoYou are not. When I drive down to West Virginia from NY, getting fresh air on foot is exciting because I feel safe walking around gas station more than driving on the road. But that's outside of city. City gas station is competitive enough I feel stressed about going into one.
- toephu2 10y agoUnfortunately this sounds like another startup that won't exist 2 years from now. They are solving a problem that isn't really a problem. And super long term when everyone has an electric car this won't even be an issue. The potential client base seems really small. They would have to pivot like crazy.
- unclebucknasty 10y agoI wonder if their success will be inversely proportional to the success of Uber.
- hiou 10y ago> You could imagine what could happen if a fueling truck went into a parking garage under a commercial or residential building, it would not be a good outcome.[0] [0] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/gas-delivery-startups-want-to-fill-up-your-car-anywhere-is-that-allowed http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/gas-delive...
- ipsin 10y agoThe reason this seems crazy to me is that a fixed appointment time is way harder for me to meet (even though I keep a calendar). I'd rather just schedule my own time. If I could give the service a key to the car (and trust them to figure out when I needed service), it might be worth doing, but I am not a dedicated car commuter.
- fsaneq2 10y agoIt's funny seeing all these people vehemently defend their $15/mo. In the bay area, where this launched, that's like what, two beers at a bar? I don't get the money argument at all. Negotiate yourself a $15/month raise, if you feel that bad about it. And yes, no shit, in some places in the world (like back home for me) this won't make sense -- so what? The one thing I'd want to have is some kind of ceiling on the gas price. I checked this morning and the prices seemed quite good, but what guarantee do I have that they won't randomly jack up the price when I'm not looking?
- bernardom 10y agoHave you guys thought about partnering with metromile? Then you'd know where my car is and its current fuel level.
- walrus01 10y agoHow are you supposed to do gasoline delivery without keys to the vehicle, when the driver is absent, if nearly every car sold these days has a fuel cap door that can only be opened from a button inside the vehicle?
- chucksmash 10y agoIf you aren't marking up the gas then the operating costs and profits must (eventually) come from the $15/mo, correct? So does this work similarly to the gym business model (i.e. over-subscribe the service with the assumption that some portion of subscribers won't use it very often and will subsidize the heavy users)? The requirement to plan ahead instead of offering on-demand delivery seems like it might encourage that dynamic ("Crap, I'm nearly out of gas and forgot to put in my Yoshi order. I'll just fill it myself this time").
- avree 10y agoThese guys should talk to startups like Turo and Getaround. Will be a huge help to the peer-to-peer carsharing companies.
- drewm1980 10y agoStarting a company to make gasoline powered cars MORE convenient is absolutely unethical. Any engineers working on this project should be ashamed for using their skills to make the world a worse place.
- dgobaud 10y agoHi I'm one of the founders. Many people think this upon hearing about the service but the logic is flawed because: A) It does not consider that we are building more cost effective alternative fuel delivery infrastructure that can help accelerate the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles other than electric such as the Toyota Mirai and Honda FCX Clarity. B) Does not consider that efficient gasoline delivery can reduce carbon emissions and the number of polluting underground gas station tanks.
- drewm1980 10y agoAspirational economies of scale and future technologies developed by others do not change the fact that you have chosen to pour your life energy into selling gasoline from the back of a fleet of pickup trucks.
- jsprogrammer 10y ago>B) Does not consider that efficient gasoline delivery can reduce carbon emissions and the number of polluting underground gas station tanks. Can you please share your analysis of how much your company reduces carbon emissions?
- maitrik 10y agoWe are working on a similar idea in Texas area. You can check us out at http://www.fyuldelivery.com http://www.fyuldelivery.com We are still in the beta stage though and learning a lot from customers. As someone mentioned, fuel is just the gateway to get into car servicing market.