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Imagine if Ford paid billions of dollars to build their gas pump network. Why should Toyota get to use it?
by brianwawok 4y ago
Imagine if Ford paid billions of dollars to build their gas pump network. Why should Toyota get to use it?
- mrguyorama 4y agoBecause there are finite resources on earth and we should strive for efficient uses of them, not for maximum Ford profit. Corporations only exist at society's pleasure, thanks the the support of society's government and the property law that government applies using it's monopoly on violence. There is no right to profit.
- arsome 4y agoOkay, so Tesla has no or significantly more limited reason to build out a charging network. Good job, you made electric cars worse, thanks government.
- kube-system 4y agoWhy not? The incentive for building the network was always to sell cars. They also make money by selling electricity. Neither of those would change. Gas stations fill any car, and they still exist.
- jtc331 4y ago“There is no right to profit” means “the incentive has been removed”. Congratulations; you’ve just broken the system (even though it was well-meaning).
- panick21_ 4y agoOk, but at least in such a case, Toyota should be forced to pay for the privilege. Like is your position really that nobody that invests in infrastructure should be allowed to profit from its investment?
- darkwizard42 4y agoTesla is being paid for it... they get increased federal funding, so they are being compensated in a way for it. For Toyota this is a direct threat, why should I give my competitors free money. Ultimately, Tesla is asking for even more federal funding in this space... and I can assume they will hopefully try to get even more of that money
- panick21_ 4y agoYes Tesla is being paid. And that good. But your argument seems to be that Tesla shouldn't get anything or shouldn't even allowed to have private infrastructure. > Ultimately, Tesla is asking for even more federal funding in this space I think Tesla would prefer to be any federal funding in this space.
- vel0city 4y agoSuperchargers aren't free. There's money to be made by actually charging the cars.
- panick21_ 4y agoYes but Tesla can decide what the prefer, money or competitive advantage. If government just forced them to be open, then they don't have that choice.
- vel0city 4y agoWould it have been an ideal world would have been where there were Ford gas stations, GM gas stations, Chrysler gas stations, Toyota gas stations, Honda gas stations, Suzuki gas stations, Nissan gas stations, AMC gas stations, Studebaker gas stations, Plymouth gas stations, Mercury gas stations, Pontiac gas stations, etc. and none of these would have been interchangeable? We'd just have a dozen different gas stations all right next to each other all over the place, because each one wants to have their own competitive edge against the others for "the best" fueling infrastructure. Every time an auto manufacturing company got merged or went defunct, we'd just close down all those old legacy gas stations and any drivers of those would just be SOL. To me that sounds like a nightmare, but I guess to each their own.
- kube-system 4y agoBecause abusing a market leading position to tie or bundle your products is illegal anticompetitive behavior.
- panick21_ 4y agoThey started with supercharging before they were in a market leading position. Their investment in charging and production at the same time is what made them market leading. And in fact, the reality is bundling is not inherently illegal. If it was illegal 99% of all companies above 50 people would do something illegal.