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Fun, that's what I tell since years. That is the reason, why I believe its more companies like Car2Go have a better position than Uber. (If that future of self
by PinguTS 9y ago
Fun, that's what I tell since years.
That is the reason, why I believe its more companies like Car2Go have a better position than Uber. (If that future of self-driving cars and transportation as a service becomes true.)
- heisenbit 9y agoYeah, posted similar arguments a couple times too. The keys are technology to build the car, differentiators for the car, capital to own a fleet and ability to service in the field. The app and customer relationship are not that sticky. Think about it: Do you care whether you order from Uber or Lyft or do you care whether it is a BMW 7 Series, a Ford F-150 or a Cadillac? The money quote is here: > But even if Uber can keep up in terms of autonomous vehicle technology—or find more willing partners in the established auto industry—there’s a much larger problem looming ahead. > The companies that will profit from the transportation-as-a-service revolution will depend on an incredibly costly infrastructure—one that doesn’t yet exist. Someone has to buy and maintain all the autonomous vehicles, enough to replace all of the cars driven (and usually owned) by Uber and Lyft drivers, not to mention many of the cars driven by you, me and countless others, too. > To date, Uber’s model has been built on it not owning vehicles. Owning an enormous fleet of them, which might be required to make transportation-as-a-service work, is in some ways antithetical to the business model that has given Uber a nearly $70 billion valuation, more than any other startup. That model depends on outsourcing vehicle ownership and maintenance to its drivers. > Uber does own its prototype self-driving vehicles, but declined to comment on the extent to which its future would depend on owning vehicles. > Auto manufacturers have a great deal of experience working with the complex web of dealers, financing companies and fleet managers—even car-rental agencies—that could potentially be repurposed to manage millions of self-driving vehicles.
- skdotdan 9y agoTesla Network?
- bkkssnn 9y agoTook the words right out of my mouth, Elon is 3 steps ahed.
- PinguTS 9y agoSo why do you think Daimler has developed, and now just replicates Car2Go? Think about.
- bkkssnn 9y agoI think if Tesla pulls it off with the Tesla network and T5 they will have all the advatages Uber has with none of the disadvantages. Meaning they wont own "their" fleet of cars, it will just be all tesla owners renting out their cars. This effectivly cuts out all middle men from the equation. Also they will be early to market, the only competion i see is some other big car manufacturer developing or buying T5 and make their own network, Ford network or GM network or whatever, also cutting all the middle men. I.e the customers own the cars and they themselves rent out the car to some larger network. This also ultimately makes the T5 "revolution" inherently more democratic since one private actor will have a hard time to compete with a big network of people loosely connected by some framework. Which i think was Elons plan all along.
- usrusr 9y agoAlso, imagine Uber needs to raise additional capital for a physical fleet, and you are a potential investor: would you give your money to Uber, where it would only get you a tiny fraction relative to the massive (and already burnt) existing investment or would you give it to the second mover where your contribution to the fleet would give you a much bigger stake?