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A venn diagram with two circles that don't intersect: "Can afford a Tesla" "Wants to drive for Uber"

by awesomerobot 10y ago

shuntress 10y ago
"I could afford a Tesla if it could help pay for itself..."
snowwrestler 10y ago
Well the point is that the car would drive itself for Uber.
MatthewMcDonald 10y ago
I think it's more appropriate to model: "Can afford a Tesla" "Wants to monetize Tesla when not using it"
- simonlc 10y ago
  I doubt driving for Uber will earn you a net profit, considering the millage on your car.
  - MatthewMcDonald 10y ago
    I'm not familiar enough with the pricing details to disagree with you, but it's worth mentioning that a Model S can be used for the UberLux service (~3x more expensive than UberX).
  - sokoloff 10y ago
    Uber pays over a dollar per mile for UberX. The GSA rate for autos now is $0.54/mile, which is intended to be an "all-in" figure for operating costs. I think there's room for profiting from driving Uber. (I also agree that it's a good bit less than it appears based on the cash-in and cash-out every week.)
gambiting 10y ago
Maybe it's different where you live, but I'm in UK and I see lots of Teslas as taxis(uber or other) - it just makes perfect sense. Even though the lease on a Tesla is very expensive compared to a regular car, it's much much much cheaper to run(especially with petrol/diesel being around $7-8/US gallon), requires a lot less maintenance, and retains strong value over time. So actually, buying a Tesla to drive as a taxi is very attractive, and I wouldn't be surprised if these two diagrams were actually very closely overlapping.
uptown 10y ago
This guy tried it: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-uber-driver-picks-you-up-in-a-tesla-model-s-2015-09-11 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-uber-driver-picks-you-...
- noer 10y ago
  Here's another guy that tried it as well: https://medium.com/@SteveSasman/how-i-used-abused-my-tesla-what-a-tesla-looks-like-after-100-000-miles-a-48-state-road-trip-6b6ae66b3c10 https://medium.com/@SteveSasman/how-i-used-abused-my-tesla-w...
- mamurphy 10y ago
  The bed-in-the back configuration he set up is pretty nifty. I wish more cars had back seats that would fold forward to allow that (or for carrying heavy loads).
pfarnsworth 10y ago
This is an ignorant statement. In Hong Kong, I've been ubered in a lot of Teslas. The Teslas are owned by rich families, and the driver uses the cars on the side.
oarsinsync 10y ago
I spent a few weeks in Hong Kong recently and the vast majority of my UberBLACK Sedans were Tesla Model S, many with the insane mode / ludicrous mode / whatever it's called that unlocks the rapid acceleration. They were more than happy to demonstrate it too, which was fun. Discussing the sustainability, they noted that after the purchase of the car, running costs were effectively free. Due to subsidies provided by the government, there is no refuelling charge, and as an electric car, it's not subject to emissions laws e.g. requirement to turn your car off if stationary for more than 2 mins, not allowed to be stationary for more than 2 minutes with air conditioning turned on. Two of the drivers I spoke to intended to buy more Teslas for their family for this reason, one already had another one on order.

A venn diagram with two circles that don't intersect: "Can afford a Tesla" "Wants to drive for Uber"

shuntress 10y ago

"I could afford a Tesla if it could help pay for itself..."

snowwrestler 10y ago

Well the point is that the car would drive itself for Uber.

MatthewMcDonald 10y ago

I think it's more appropriate to model: "Can afford a Tesla" "Wants to monetize Tesla when not using it"

simonlc 10y ago
I doubt driving for Uber will earn you a net profit, considering the millage on your car.
- MatthewMcDonald 10y ago
  I'm not familiar enough with the pricing details to disagree with you, but it's worth mentioning that a Model S can be used for the UberLux service (~3x more expensive than UberX).
- sokoloff 10y ago
  Uber pays over a dollar per mile for UberX. The GSA rate for autos now is $0.54/mile, which is intended to be an "all-in" figure for operating costs. I think there's room for profiting from driving Uber. (I also agree that it's a good bit less than it appears based on the cash-in and cash-out every week.)

gambiting 10y ago

Maybe it's different where you live, but I'm in UK and I see lots of Teslas as taxis(uber or other) - it just makes perfect sense. Even though the lease on a Tesla is very expensive compared to a regular car, it's much much much cheaper to run(especially with petrol/diesel being around $7-8/US gallon), requires a lot less maintenance, and retains strong value over time. So actually, buying a Tesla to drive as a taxi is very attractive, and I wouldn't be surprised if these two diagrams were actually very closely overlapping.

uptown 10y ago

This guy tried it: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-uber-driver-picks-you-up-in-a-tesla-model-s-2015-09-11 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-uber-driver-picks-you-...

noer 10y ago
Here's another guy that tried it as well: https://medium.com/@SteveSasman/how-i-used-abused-my-tesla-what-a-tesla-looks-like-after-100-000-miles-a-48-state-road-trip-6b6ae66b3c10 https://medium.com/@SteveSasman/how-i-used-abused-my-tesla-w...
mamurphy 10y ago
The bed-in-the back configuration he set up is pretty nifty. I wish more cars had back seats that would fold forward to allow that (or for carrying heavy loads).

pfarnsworth 10y ago

This is an ignorant statement. In Hong Kong, I've been ubered in a lot of Teslas. The Teslas are owned by rich families, and the driver uses the cars on the side.

oarsinsync 10y ago

I spent a few weeks in Hong Kong recently and the vast majority of my UberBLACK Sedans were Tesla Model S, many with the insane mode / ludicrous mode / whatever it's called that unlocks the rapid acceleration. They were more than happy to demonstrate it too, which was fun. Discussing the sustainability, they noted that after the purchase of the car, running costs were effectively free. Due to subsidies provided by the government, there is no refuelling charge, and as an electric car, it's not subject to emissions laws e.g. requirement to turn your car off if stationary for more than 2 mins, not allowed to be stationary for more than 2 minutes with air conditioning turned on. Two of the drivers I spoke to intended to buy more Teslas for their family for this reason, one already had another one on order.