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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

#161

Post by ams6110 »

technofiend wrote: post #27
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.

I take advantage of fuel stops to check the oil, coolant levels, etc. and generally eyeball stuff under the hood, like the drive belts for alternator, AC, etc. I glance at the tires too. It's a nice way to do something productive while the pump is running and saves me from having to do that separately at home.

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

#162

Post by ams6110 »

shostack wrote: post #157
rconti wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had never heard of this kind of service until a couple of weeks ago when I saw a Booster fuels truck. The advertised prices on the truck were a good 20 cents/gallon lower than the Chevron across the street from where it was parked. OTOH, I don't know if they use top tier fuels with whatever detergent packages or if it's Arco-quality gas, or what.

Having seen but never used Arco--is there a significant difference in gasoline quality? I had always been under the impression that it was largely a commodity product with the various additives largely being used to help differentiate from a branding standpoint and not actually doing much.

There is basically no difference in gasoline brands. They all buy from the same area wholesalers. Some may vary on ethanol percentage and other additives but generally it's nothing significant.

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

#163

Post by ams6110 »

ohitsdom wrote: post #13

> Today, the company’s fuel delivery drivers are 1099 contractors Why? Even if truck driving jobs tend to be contract positions, this isn't any driving job. And it certainly isn't uber.

That was a big question for me too. They story says they engineered proprietary delivery trucks and based on the photo they are emblazoned with Yoshi branding. A true contractor would have to own the truck and likely would have his/her own business branding on the truck and would be free to work for any similar service.

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

#164

Post by BurningFrog »

niftich wrote: post #155
untilHellbanned wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you underestimate how valuable the vast majority of the world considers their money. All this use of "My". Sorry to be blunt but you are irrelevant. Spend some time outside of the bubble, St. Louis for example. People here ain't gonna pay $15 to reclaim 40 minutes a month. This strikes me like the gig economy spend a $1 to get $0.90 strategy. There are huge costs for physical presence businesses that can only…

You're not wrong, but it's a premium service for a self-selecting market. Given SV/SF's narrow geographical spread and high disposable income, I can see it working there, while it would probably falter in most of Middle America.

Or, this is where they figure out how to run a business like this right, and then they (maybe) use that knowledge to launch something in the outside world.

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

#165

Post by ams6110 »

ars wrote: post #144
sliverstorm wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he's referring to when you were little, and they were driving.

When I was little and they were driving I used to fill gas. It was great fun using the credit card and everything else. Very sad to see "must be a licensed driver to pump gas" signs everywhere these days :(

When I was little you pulled into the gas station, and a teenage kid sprinted from the garage, pumped your gas, washed your windows, and checked your oil, took your payment, and you never had to leave your seat.

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

#166

Post by BurningFrog »

kamaal wrote: post #143
bdamm wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it would be not needing to experience the little bit of stress I see when the fuel indicator is edging down to 1/4 tank and wondering when I'm going to squeeze in a trip to the gas station when I'd really rather be somewhere else.

Well in that case make sure you have your car parked exactly where they want it parked to be refilled. Else you have to now experience additional stress of getting the car to that place and that falling levels of fuel in your tank at the same time. Its not like they track your car through GPS and show up at the exact place where you are empty.

Using GPS seems like a given for a service like this.

At a minimum, I should be able to open my Yoshi app and say "My car will be [here] for the next 4 hours. Make sure it gets full".

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

#167

Post by ams6110 »

nick007 wrote: post #51
overcast wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're taking into account proper inflation(it differs, even per axle) for each make/model? How do you plan on changing things like oil when cars hoods are locked? Jacking up cars with alarms?

We let you set the PSI that you want your tires set to. We'll show your the factory default, but you can adjust it to whatever you'd like. Don't want to share too much about oil changes yet, as we're still trying to figure out a lot of the details ourselves and are only testing this in a very limit scope right now.

In theory a drain plug could be designed that will allow draining the old oil and then filling the new from under the car. Changing the filter might be trickier, since not all filters are accessible from the underside (but most are).

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

#168

Post by tinbad »

I'm probably the only one here who actually enjoys taking a break from my commute to pull over, refuel and get a drink/snack while I'm at it. But I can totally see where this would work (depending on how much one drives). I can see my wife use this to not have to deal with getting gas, especially when she drives our two babies around. I wonder if they offer both regular and premium gas as my car needs premium (would be good info to have in their website before I'm forced to download the app). Also, reading on their website they claim it's better for the environment to not have to drive to a gas station. Again, this depends on the location, but where I live (SF Bay Area) there's a gas station on almost every main intersection of roads so it's hard to believe that that would take me more gas than for them to have it drive out to my office.

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

#169

Post by xrd »

kamaal wrote: post #142
jgalt212 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're rushing to get home before your young children go to bed, you simply cannot put a price on those extra 40 minutes.

Firstly that is more like 20 minutes. Secondly, I don't know of any one with a schedule so packed that they can't spare 20 minutes once two weeks. The only two situations I can imagine is if you are poor and work more than one job and have to often rush. Which in case it doesn't make sense to pay more for something like this. Or if your time is worth in thousands of dollars an hour/minutes. Which in case you anyway h…

I'm assuming you don't have kids. Kids slurp up every extra moment. And you as a parent are fine with that. Except in the morning when you need to get to work and don't have gas in your car. Then, I'd wager this service is worth even more than $15. In fact, I think these guys should send their email marketing out at 9:45 when harried parents have arrived at work and are still painfully replaying their mornings, trying to come up with a solution to skipping the refueling line.

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

#170

Post by jedmeyers »

mikeash wrote: post #154
jedmeyers wrote: post #141

That's kind of similar to how airplanes are getting filled up at KPAO. Fueling truck comes by, doesn't see a white mark on the right tire - refuels to the max. In the end it saves a lot of time, because you don't have to worry about filling it up.

That's pretty weird, since the importance of weight makes it common not to fill airplanes to the top.

I guess that's mostly consistent with the rental plane use case, since they usually fly with only one or two people on board several times a day.
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