patrick_y
[PuristSPro Moderator]
28446
I analyze business cases like this all the time... It's still too much like public transportation...
I analyze business cases like this all the time.
Unless you live/work really close to their locations, then it's not going to work. Furthermore, the costs are exorbitant. It makes sense as an airport shuttle. But as a daily, expense, the pricing of $60-$140 round trip is exorbitant even among the top 5% of Californians. Assuming a user would use one seat three days a week, at an average of $49 per trip (not peak, peak traffic is around $79 a trip) you're looking at an average of $98 round trip, $300 a week, $1200 a month, close to $15,000 a year! It's cheap to have a driver at $15,000 a year for a wealthy person, but for a normal, upper-middle-class employee, then that's still quite steep!
I'd use it for airport transfers. And I can sometimes fly from SFO to San Diego for not much more than $79 each way if I book the tickets far enough in advance.
Other worries: cost of vehicle, reliability of the vehicle...
The last question here is... Did they choose the correct vehicle? If they chose a less expensive vehicle like a Toyota Sienna minivan, which is more reliable but has a much higher $0.15 per mile fuel cost. Assuming that each vehicle does around 500 miles a day, or $75 in fuel. The Tesla is somewhere around half that in fueling cost. So, is that $30 delta worth the lease extra costs of having "spare Tesla Model X" vehicles in your fleet? The vehicle reliability alone can jeapordize the entire business plan. A single car going down strands 4 passengers. If any passenger gets stranded twice, no matter the compensation provided by the Tesloop corporation, they will not return. Maybe they should've chosen a larger vehicle (a 10-15 passenger van)? So they can carry more fares. There's very little advantage of having a vehicle of this size other than saving gasoline, the gasoline you save does cover the increase in the lease payment, but at the expense of capacity is a problem.
Are there government subsidies? Does the state and counties pay Tesloop to reduce the traffic on Interstate 5?
Lastly, what are the kinds of people using the service? Are they all "chatty" people like the ones on Jet Smarter and the other jet-ride-shares who are trying to network and socialize with the strangers on the plane? Flying normal commercial has a nice etiquette, everyone is quiet, and doesn't talk to each other, and watches TV to pass the time (unless you're on a discount airline like Iceland's WOW carrier that doesn't have food nor TV and then the passengers - many of whom are young millennials without an appreciation of etiquette - socialize on the plane and sleepy passengers can't sleep). So is everyone quiet? Can I get work done? Or are two people going to be chatting and ruining it for everyone?
It's an aggressive and risky project. Let's see how well it works!
More posts:
Tesloop - a new sort of mass transport
A new transportation service has sprung up in the last year between San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and Palm Springs. It relies on Tesla Model X vehicles running multiple loops a day with a reasonable number of locations and reasonable prices. Just ...
Good idea...what’s my insurance coverage if something happens?
Also, any compensation for delay? Rgds Raymond
Good question, this car is technically in "No Man's Land"
I've done some analyzing of projects similar to this. There's a problem here. Limousine/car-hire companies normally have very "low" insurances on cars, black cars, Town cars, because they only seat 2-4 people usually. A 10+ passenger van will normally car...
Interesting concept. The vehicle can gross 17k but what are they actually achieving.
Things always look great on paper. But good concept.
I'd be happy if I could get a 65% utilization ratio.
At 65% utilization, you're grossing hopefully around $11K a month. That definitely covers the driver, back office, marketing, car, cleaning, fueling/charging, maintenance, etc.
Long Distance Bus in SoCal is not for the timid
No one I know would ride the Greyhound bus unless it was home from prison ...
They have a 55 lb (25 kg) limit per person
One medium suitcase or carry-on bag, and 2 small hand bags. Or if you have a couple big bags you can buy the empty back seat for them.
I analyze business cases like this all the time... It's still too much like public transportation...
I analyze business cases like this all the time. Unless you live/work really close to their locations, then it's not going to work. Furthermore, the costs are exorbitant. It makes sense as an airport shuttle. But as a daily, expense, the pricing of $60-$1...
Excellent discussion
The Tesloop has zero fuel cost as they charge at the Supercharger network stations. Their LA - Palm Springs car is going 15,000 miles a month and they retired the eldest at 330,000 miles, claiming no breakdowns. My friend’s daughter who’s a tech mgr at Am...
Main problem is ...
.. where do we put he Diavel ? It will be a very tight fit i think ;-) ...
You need URB-E instead
If it fits in the Fiat it should fit into the Tesla: If it fits in the Lotus, it should fit in the Tesla: Then you can get to wherever you park that big scary bike. Cazalea ...
And the charging still being free of cost ...
... what would happen when that (subsidized) comes to an end ? Looks more like a pretty expensive (but very comfy) taxi to me .
