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Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

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Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#21

Post by nick007 »

physcab wrote: post #8

I've seen Booster Fuels trucks around at a company I used to work at. To me this makes the most sense as a perk offered by a company not in a major city, that has huge parking lots of cars. I used to commute to Santa Clara 3x a week from SF and needed to re-fuel every week. If the company offered the service as a perk with me just paying for gas, that would be pretty convenient no-brainer.

Yes, we actually do do this, and we're now a corporate perk at several companies in the areas we service. We also let people sign-up and start getting serviced at lots where we aren't sponsored by a company too.

Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#22

Post by noer »

danhak wrote: post #3

I've never owned a car in a city as dense as SF or New York so maybe it's different in places like that, but this strikes me as yet another example of the "Uber-For-X" SV startup that doesn't solve any real problem. Stopping by the gas station once a week on my way home is simply not a big enough annoyance for me to subscribe to yet another service. I'm also skeptical of the long-term prospects of this business model…

Furthermore, Uber solved a problem in a market with inefficiencies and use regulation arbitrage to do it. This is just an on demand service betting on the fact that people are lazy enough to not want to put gas into their car. IMO, there are bigger (or actual) problems to solve.

Honestly, I wonder why they didn't launch in Chicago or Boston in the winter when weather would make people not want to bother going outside.

Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#23

Post by Alupis »

mring33621 wrote: post #18
nick007 wrote: post #10

Hi, I'm one of the founders. Happy to answer any questions!

I actually think this is a pretty good idea, especially if you can also handle the annoying, piddly maintenance stuff, like tire pressure, fluids and perhaps oil changes for me.

> fluids and perhaps oil changes for me

You're wanting a full service mechanic to come out to you. That's not what this service is (nor do I think you can commercially change oil and other fluids in random parking lots).

Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#24

Post by Alupis »

teuobk wrote: post #19
Alupis wrote: post #4

> The company has engineered its own gas delivery trucks with a proprietary system, called the Fuel Vault, which allows Yoshi to access any car’s tank, even if the gas flap is locked I'd like to know what a glamorized fuel cell has to do with somehow circumventing the lock on many gas caps. I imagine it's some sort of tool that somehow defeats the locks on such gas caps and flaps, which poses interesting questions ab…

This is just a guess, but perhaps it's a very strong magnet? Many gas flap locks seem to be simple solenoids, and it's often relatively simple to change the state of a solenoid using a powerful magnet. Certain low-end electronic-lock safes are susceptible to similar attacks (that's part of the reason why better electronic-lock safes use motor-driven bolts instead of solenoids).

My car (a 2015 Ford Focus) has an actual metal tooth + clamp style lock (like a seat-belt kind of). Without putting something into the lock that prevents it from catching, I don't see how they can unlock my gas flap without somehow allowing other's to unlock it as well.

Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#25

Post by michaelbuckbee »

nick007 wrote: post #15
trevorcreech wrote: post #2

"... allows Yoshi to access any car’s tank, even if the gas flap is locked." Very curious how this works.

Good question. We created a device (that we call a "Fuel Vault") that we can install in your car's "gas flap." We'll require that you leave your car's gas flap popped open for your first fill-up so that we can install it. After that, we'll be able to get into your gas flap anytime. It doesn't require any permanent modifications to your car, and can be removed anytime.

That's clever. My guess was going to be either a Snap Gun [1] or brand master key used with permission of the owner.

1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_gun

Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#26

Post by nick007 »

mring33621 wrote: post #18
nick007 wrote: post #10

Hi, I'm one of the founders. Happy to answer any questions!

I actually think this is a pretty good idea, especially if you can also handle the annoying, piddly maintenance stuff, like tire pressure, fluids and perhaps oil changes for me.

Yep, it's not mentioned in the article but we actually air-up your tires and service them (if needed) as well through a recent partnership we made with Firestone. Depending on the market, we're also offering oil changes and other maintenance things too. Working on expanding these wider.

Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#27

Post by technofiend »

danhak wrote: post #3

I've never owned a car in a city as dense as SF or New York so maybe it's different in places like that, but this strikes me as yet another example of the "Uber-For-X" SV startup that doesn't solve any real problem. Stopping by the gas station once a week on my way home is simply not a big enough annoyance for me to subscribe to yet another service. I'm also skeptical of the long-term prospects of this business model…

I guess I'm one of those weird outliers who has a use case but still won't use the service. My wife works nights and rarely remembers to fuel our vehicle. I commute via Uber or bus so I never have it either. $15/mo is still too much for the service. Sooner or later my wife will run out of gas and then she'll do a better job of remembering to fuel the truck.

Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#28

Post by ssharp »

danhak wrote: post #3

I've never owned a car in a city as dense as SF or New York so maybe it's different in places like that, but this strikes me as yet another example of the "Uber-For-X" SV startup that doesn't solve any real problem. Stopping by the gas station once a week on my way home is simply not a big enough annoyance for me to subscribe to yet another service. I'm also skeptical of the long-term prospects of this business model…

I can stop for gas, go in for a cup of Starbucks and be back to my car that now has a full tank in less than 5 minutes.

Would I pay $15 a month for this even though my normal routine doesn't suck? Maybe. But what about the actual gas cost? That's more important than the $15 subscription fee if the spread is large enough and I'm guessing it is since they have to pay for the drivers, carry some kind of insurance I presume, and whatever other costs are involved.

Re: Yoshi (YC S16) launches “set it and forget it” vehicle re-fueling service in SF

#30

Post by ChuckMcM »

fred256 wrote: post #7

This article from a few months ago comes to mind: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/gas-delive...

I was wondering about that as well since TC makes no mention on what the fall out was from that. There was a joke going around about the "Farm Service startup, big trucks full of fertilizer and diesel fuel going from farm to farm to top up their supplies. What could possibly go wrong with that?" But more seriously, there are three things here that I can see from a public policy/safety viewpoint that have to be controlled for; Spillage (fuel is a hazardous substance), fire (you really need to control open flames when you're refilling, so you need to control the location), and transport (are your supply vehicles adequately protected in the event of a crash, are they marked so that first responders can understand the risks).

It isn't something we do a lot of but sometimes when we are on our way to camping our motor home is running its fridge on propane. There is an open flame somewhere that is feeding the heat pump. We turn it off when we go into a gas station but if someone parked next to us, they would probably not know that it wouldn't be a good place to have their car refueled. Hard to know what is going on exactly in your environment.

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