First of all, the mission of Tesla is to transition the world to sustainable energy. If you believe them, that should be enough.
But, second of all, this also makes business sense. Everyone will have to use the Tesla app, where they can get targeted offers and become a kind of "Tesla Light" customers. People wonder why Tesla doesn't advertise. Well, with these deals, the need for advertising is a lot less than without them. Also, Tesla is essentially becoming a platform for EVs. How long before some OEM license Tesla software?
And, remember that there are over 17000 superchargers in the US alone and the deal with Ford and GM only allows access to 12000 of them in the US and Canada together. To get the full Supercharger experience, you still need a Tesla.
An app isn't going to make me buy a car or Tesla equipment. Aesthetics, utility, and cost are my main purchasing decision dimensions, and Tesla isn't winning those for me. I'm not buying something shaped like a prune that can't haul gear and equipment.
The ads on Uber and other delivery apps are irrelevant to my daily life. Uber claims advertising has generating $500M in ARR, but that's co-mingled with restaurants seeking placement on Uber Eats. Ads for movies and McDonalds on Uber is probably generating a small pittance of that sum.
Furthermore, lots of businesses will get into EV charging when it takes off. Existing gas stations, restaurants, and shopping will undoubtedly join when they believe the timing is right.
FWIW, I'm dreading having to buy an EV. Gasoline works better for my use cases. I don't have a place to charge at home, and I don't want to wait for on-demand fill ups.
I think the push to EVs has been a function of worldwide market and regulation, not necessarily consumer choice.
> FWIW, I'm dreading having to buy an EV. Gasoline works better for my use cases. I don't have a place to charge at home, and I don't want to wait for on-demand fill ups.
Yeah, if you don't have home or workplace charging, EVs really don't have significant advantages at the moment.
> An app isn't going to make me buy a car or Tesla equipment. Aesthetics, utility, and cost are my main purchasing decision dimensions
The interesting thing is: There's confirmation bias in this, but every single person I've talked to who owns a Tesla might have said this before owning one, but would now never say it afterward. It does things you never know you needed, until you have it, and then you're shopping for cars afterward and your standards go up. Wait, the infotainment still has a resistive touch-screen which runs at 45fps? The maps won't automatically route me to nearby chargers and give me a battery charge prediction for arrival that learns from my driving habits?
Oh, here's an interesting one: Teslas have (configurable) cabin overheat protection. Maybe some other brands have this as well, I don't know, but: the cabin never gets above 100F, if you have more-than 20% battery, and it doesn't cause that much drain (maybe ~3%/day, maybe more in Arizona or Texas). In other words; you never have a hot car, and you don't fuddle with remote start / "turn the AC on 10 minutes before I leave" / whatever. Its just... never all that hot; and you don't notice it until you get in a traditional car that's been sitting in the parking lot all day, sticky leather seats and its 120F inside.
All I can say is: Your mindset is probably more a reflection of your environment than any more foundational principals; and if you want to keep it that way, I'd recommend that you don't spend any significant length of time driving a Tesla.
Couldn't disagree more. We really wanted an ev. Even bought it when there were no incentives available. Nothing to do with the global market or regulation.
It's a superior experience in every way. From the performance, to the software, to the charging. I just plug it in and never think about charging. On long drives it needs a topup when our family does.
I live in place where the parking is super weird. Historical building with historical grounds. We're literally not allowed to resurface the parking because it's all historic. Part of an old steam power plant between cotton mill buildings from the 1800s.
How am I going to fuel my vehicle? We won't be able to install power at limited distribution sites for everyone. 300 residents with their own EVs is going to make shared charging stations a nightmare, and everyone will fight. I know this because we installed a few charging stations and it has already became an issue for the six Teslas on campus. Multiply that by 60.
It's easy to spend five minutes at a gas pump on my way somewhere. No impact to my day. Having to schedule time slots with neighbors is a nightmare.
You can still buy a new ICE well into 2030s in the US, if you truly need one, meaning you can keep driving it until 2050s. By that time window the majority of cars on the road will be EVs, and the charging infrastructure will have changed substantially. I doubt it'll take that long for it to be upgraded though. I bet many people in your building will drive an EV by 2030. Most of them even.
> I live in place where the parking is super weird. Historical building with historical grounds. We're literally not allowed to resurface the parking because it's all historic. How am I going to fuel my vehicle?
They don't advertise because their word of mouth and media presence is incredibly strong. It's also the same reason I basically had to strong arm the sales center into selling me one of their cars -- the demand is incredibly high.
> Everyone will have to use the Tesla app, where they can get targeted offers
Sounds like a nightmare. Want to go on a road trip? Either subject yourself to target advertising on your phone or pay a monthly fee. Hard pass!
I don't want to have to use an app at all if I want to charge. And yes, plug and charge is still using an app, you need to use some kind of app somewhere to manage the payment. I'd much rather have the option to just choose what payment I'd like to use before I start charging. Sure, optionally support plug and charge as well, but at least give me the option to not need to go to an app to choose this this card or that card and what not.
> remember that there are over 17000 superchargers in the US alone and the deal with Ford and GM only allows access to 12000 of them in the US and Canada together.
From what I understand, the ~5k chargers that aren't included are the older ones which don't speak CCS and they're usually the lower power ones. Those will probably be replaced over the next few years. Meanwhile all their newer ones will work with all the other compatible cars, so this percentage (~29% currently) will shrink over time, probably pretty rapidly given they're increasing the rate of new charger installation.
And in the end, for a lot of people it probably won't even actually matter. I've spent 2 years so far with a non-Tesla EV and it hasn't been any kind of difficulty for me in the slightest. Will it be nice to get access to another 1,500ish charging locations with a basic adapter? Sure, there's a few more charging locations on the road trip routes I take which will be open to me. Will it actually impact me day to day? Not in the slightest.
Oh no, there's a few thousand old chargers which charge at slower speeds than the new ones a several hundred miles away that my car can't charge at? Guess my car is worthless :'(
Also worth noting: I don't hear people talking about this. Tesla allows non-Teslas to access a very small portion of the supercharger network already. They offer a two-tiered plan; pay-as-you-go, or a $13/mo subscription which activates the lower charging rates Teslas already get. I don't know if its been announced yet how this applies to the deal Tesla has signed with Ford (and GM/Rivian?); will it look more like how EA/evGo operate, where there's a plan you sign up for to get the more market-rate charging prices? Or are they doing away with that?
I think they don't use ads because they already get a ton of money with green credits. I recall all the Tesla doomsayer a few years back saying Tesla was going broke then Tesla sold these credits to other companies for millions. If Tesla loses these edges, which will happen if other car companies go 100% green, then we'll see a more hate-able Tesla with ad-ware.
But, second of all, this also makes business sense. Everyone will have to use the Tesla app, where they can get targeted offers and become a kind of "Tesla Light" customers. People wonder why Tesla doesn't advertise. Well, with these deals, the need for advertising is a lot less than without them. Also, Tesla is essentially becoming a platform for EVs. How long before some OEM license Tesla software?
And, remember that there are over 17000 superchargers in the US alone and the deal with Ford and GM only allows access to 12000 of them in the US and Canada together. To get the full Supercharger experience, you still need a Tesla.