I work at an airport and I see brand new Tesla Model 3‘s and other $40K+ hybrids being used as ride shares. I been even seeing Polestar‘s. So you buy a $40K+ car, then put tons of mileage on it, have tons of strangers beat up the interior. What’s the advantage in a new expensive car that you will be stacking miles on it daily? I would rather buy a new Corolla, Sentra, or Jetta for this type of job. How do these people make money while making payments on an expensive car?
New expensive EV and hybrids for ride shares
- Thread starter Finklejag
- Start date
I'm guessing the ride shares more than pay for the car, right? Otherwise, as you say, why would anyone do it?
There may be a business case to be made for operating as you're describing, but I strongly suspect there is an element of kicking the financial can down the road, so to speak.
Step 1: Finance an expensive car
Step 2: Depreciate it faster than it's being paid off while using rideshare income to make the payments
Step 3: Profit(?)
Step 1: Finance an expensive car
Step 2: Depreciate it faster than it's being paid off while using rideshare income to make the payments
Step 3: Profit(?)
I think it appeals to the customer and maybe they can be in a different tier of service. Isn’t there something called Uber black or whatever that has nicer vehicles for hire but cost more. Maybe those clientele keep the interior of the cars nicer?
The same way as any other profession… I know tons of people (non rider share) with high-end work transportation.
Free electricity?
Uber and Lyft have a “comfort” tier - you need a car with leather seats. They both will give you a small spiff for an EV but leasing a M3/MY from Hertz as an Uber driver, your fares will barely break even to pay the weekly rate($300-400).
My dad has a Lexus for that, it’s a stupid idea(I always recommend the Prius for gigs). Oh well.
It’s a good way to fool people into thinking they have a good gig going, where in reality they have a hard time beating the minimum wage.
The only people making a killing are the ride share companies and people working for them.
The only people making a killing are the ride share companies and people working for them.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
$40k Tesla minus $7,500 tax credit makes it a $32,500 car. Drive 40k miles a year and save $4,500 a year in gas over a 35 mpg car. Spend some on electricity to charge it but it’s cheap. Probably $1,000 a year at the most. Call it $3,500 a year savings.
Plus buying the Tesla you don’t get all the BS add one like you do at a regular dealership for an extended warranty, paint sealant, oil change package, etc.
So why not?
Plus buying the Tesla you don’t get all the BS add one like you do at a regular dealership for an extended warranty, paint sealant, oil change package, etc.
So why not?
You are just being logical again. That darn arithmetic is sooooooo hard!
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Some are rentals for full drive drivers without a car.
Also Uber incentives give $1 /ride with green car up to $4000/year. Lastly electricity can be up to 4x cheaper than gasoline .
Also Uber incentives give $1 /ride with green car up to $4000/year. Lastly electricity can be up to 4x cheaper than gasoline .
$4,500/year in gas cost? I'd be only saving $1000/year compared to a Prius in electricity vs gas not including the cost of the home charger and the $1000/year rise in my insurance.
Another government "scam" is the companies have to show that a certain % of their rides are electric for some ridiculous reason. They rent electeic cars (one way Hertz gets use of their Teslas) to drivers at a decent discount and the drivers get a small bump in the rate. This way the company complies with the latest nonsensical regulation and the drivers appear to be making good money. It's a actually just a rental.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
40,000 miles per year at 35 mpg in a standard small car is 1,143 gallons of gas. At $4 a gallon that's $4,572.
A Tesla Model 3 gets somewhere around 4 miles per kWh, and at a nationwide average of $0.11 per kWh that's $1,100 in electricity.
My brand new Tesla Model 3 was cheaper to insure than my Jeep Grand Cherokee. And much cheaper than my 5 year old Genesis.
I was recently enlightened in this area. It goes much deeper. IIRC it goes something like this [I just pulled these names out of thin air as an example): (Note I think it is a crock, but far above my pay grade and unless financial or political SHTF not going away I believe)
- GoPro wants to sell their new thing. The powers that be have dictated certain %'s be green/carbon neutral. Think of it as the new CAFE
- The %'s are not straight... The company's HQ may have their own internal % target of say 10%. The location of their HQ may call for 20%. Their #1 distributor Amazon may require 15%. Plus there are other incentives, penalties etc. It's getting even crazier with future predictions that CA may have a % mandate for goods to be even sold in their state.
- they cannot simply buy enough "Carbon Credits" (Another crock) and/or it is not financially feasable
- So, they have to find all kinds of ways to get these magical %'s (Like auto manufacturers trying to get MPGs; A little here, a little there, every facet from Corporate to suppliers is measured (The suppliers are really going to get beat up on this)
o Employees on duty travel: take a Uber Tesla vs the rental Corolla
o Employers pony up a couple bucks for charging stations at the office
o The materials and components flowing into the factory and even on their "Last mile" for distribution: Of course there are no Tesla tractor trailers or 747's BUT, Go Pro dictates the freight forwarders contribute a % so they actually pay the airlines and trucking companies more to buy SAF "Sustainable Aviation Fuel" [or bio diesel for the trucks].
- It gets even crazier and further down the rabbit hole: Say the airline flying a component to the factory from wherever cannot actually source the SAF at the origin, no problem, they fill up with the regular Jet-A. BUT sell off SAF they already purchased to someone else at the same rate a cheaper Jet-A (Basically subsidizing the higher cost of SAF and having someone else burn it for them in lieu of Jet-A)
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