I'm interested in a Tesla (or any electric car). I drive more than 100 miles from home maybe once a decade, so range is not a problem--I can just rent something with more range when I need it, if the electrical infrastructure isn't up to the journey.
But I'm not interested in the high Tesla price. I would be interested perhaps in a used Tesla. I've never bought a used regular car before, because regular cars can require a lot of maintenance when they get old and I don't want to deal with the hassle and the unpredictable expenses. Electrics are simpler, though, so I think a used electric might be OK.
I'm sure there are plenty of people like me.
So here's my suggestion to Tesla (and other car companies that might make self-driving cars). Make a ton of self-driving cars. Run your own Uber-like service with them (but be legal, and feel free to put Uber out of business as a side effect).
Besides providing taxi service, these cars will serve as roving showrooms for your cars. Many people will ride them as taxis, and then consider buying one when they buy a new car.
When a given car has been used for a few years for the taxi service, retire it, tune it up, and offer it for sale used to get people like me as customers.
Heck, put a "buy it now" button in your taxis that lets a passenger buy that particular car. It would then take them to their destination, return to your service center, get its sale tune up, and then the next time the buyer calls for one of your taxis you would send his car to him, and it would stay with him after that.
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I'm interested in a Tesla (or any electric car). I drive more than 100 miles from home maybe once a decade, so range is not a problem--I can just rent something with more range when I need it, if the electrical infrastructure isn't up to the journey.
But I'm not interested in the high Tesla price. I would be interested perhaps in a used Tesla. I've never bought a used regular car before, because regular cars can require a lot of maintenance when they get old and I don't want to deal with the hassle and the unpredictable expenses. Electrics are simpler, though, so I think a used electric might be OK.
I'm sure there are plenty of people like me.
So here's my suggestion to Tesla (and other car companies that might make self-driving cars). Make a ton of self-driving cars. Run your own Uber-like service with them (but be legal, and feel free to put Uber out of business as a side effect).
Besides providing taxi service, these cars will serve as roving showrooms for your cars. Many people will ride them as taxis, and then consider buying one when they buy a new car.
When a given car has been used for a few years for the taxi service, retire it, tune it up, and offer it for sale used to get people like me as customers.
Heck, put a "buy it now" button in your taxis that lets a passenger buy that particular car. It would then take them to their destination, return to your service center, get its sale tune up, and then the next time the buyer calls for one of your taxis you would send his car to him, and it would stay with him after that.