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Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

teslamotors.com

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Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#71

Post by jarrett »

dmayle wrote: post #58
jarrett wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extortion is perhaps not the most accurate word, going strictly by its definition. Anyway, the objection isn't to taxation of taxis, but rather to outright excluding new entrants to the taxi market. Which many cities do, via the medallion system.

I must admit, I don't see how it's extortion. It's capitalism at it's finest (by forcing the consideration of externalities as a free-market commodity). Since space in the streets is a fixed size-resource, supply and demand work to price medallions accordingly. If anything, the city sells medallions (referring to NYC) at a rate much lower than their actual value on the free market.

Putting an absolute cap on supply, which is what medallion programs do, is not a free market solution.

If you feel that use of the streets is not being rationed efficiently, or that heavy users of the streets are not paying enough relative to light users, then you can impose some kind of sliding scale or conditional tax on street use. This is not at all the same as an absolute cap on supply.

Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#72

Post by MichaelApproved »

edouard1234567 wrote: post #67
dylangs1030 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's shocking how quickly this got to the top of the front page. People really, really like Tesla :)

It doesn't shock me ... 1 - A charismatic "Rocket scientist" as a founder (Arguably the most inspiring founder since Steve Jobs). Check! 2 - A disruptive idea in a industry that hasn't been disrupted since the rise of Japanese cars (A long long time ago). Check! 3 - Wining against all odds (a year ago very few people were betting on Tesla). Check! 4 - A world changing idea. Check! 5 - A David and Goliath story. Check…

There is no "David" in this story. There is a new company but being new doesn't make you David. The power behind Tesla is not small by any means.

Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#73

Post by skaevola »

guelo wrote: post #41

Does any other company get so many straight press releases consistently voted up on HN? BTW this is old, the referenced bills did not pass.

This isn't even a press release, this was news 5 months ago when the bill was actually in the legislature.

Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#75

Post by ArchD »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #72
edouard1234567 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't shock me ... 1 - A charismatic "Rocket scientist" as a founder (Arguably the most inspiring founder since Steve Jobs). Check! 2 - A disruptive idea in a industry that hasn't been disrupted since the rise of Japanese cars (A long long time ago). Check! 3 - Wining against all odds (a year ago very few people were betting on Tesla). Check! 4 - A world changing idea. Check! 5 - A David and Goliath story. Check…

There is no "David" in this story. There is a new company but being new doesn't make you David. The power behind Tesla is not small by any means.

For Goliath, what about the entities that allegedly kill GM's EV1 electric car and want people to keep depending on fossil fuel? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car

Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#76

Post by hearty778 »

muzz wrote: post #48
grecy wrote: post #7

Ahh, The American Way (TM) When a competitor offers a better product that you, make what they are doing illegal rather than competing with them. Stopping innovation in America since the 70s.

Why are you mischaracterizing problems due to a Texas state law as "The American Way (TM)"? Tesla does not have these problems in other states such as California.

Umm, are you being blatantly ignorant? Tesla can't sell cars directly in California either.

Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#77

Post by hearty778 »

grecy wrote: post #54
throwaway_yy2Di wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is "since the 70's" some sort of ironic joke? US industries were extremely and overtly anti-competitive up until the deregulation of the 1970's. If competition is restricted now, it was far worse in the past. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staggers_Rail_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Carrier_Act_of_1980 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_Deregulation_Act

> Is "since the 70's" some sort of ironic joke? No. Some time ago the United States was a world leader in terms of the standard of living for the average citizen. Now it's dead last among developed countries, and by many measures, it's solidly among developing countries. I, personally, think that fall from grace began around the 70's (ish) when the "We're the greatest" mentality put a stop to innovation. Basically, t…

This is completely false. What measure of standard of living are you using?

Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#78

Post by hearty778 »

jtoeman wrote: post #69
throwaway_yy2Di wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not arguing that US is universally free-market today, rather that it was less free-market 50 years ago.

i don't really agree. other than some deregulation (power, cable, etc), for the most part i'd say the government today is more intertwined with lobbyists/big corporations' interests at heart than they used to be...

Car franchise laws and taxi medallions didn't exist in the 70s?

Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#79

Post by hearty778 »

mbreese wrote: post #65
jtoeman wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

like Airbnb getting sued in New York? or Uber/Lyft/etc having to go through extortionary-like procedures in California? ...

Some regulation can be good. Airbnb, Lyft and to a lesser degree Uber (definitely UberX) are all competing with established industries that are heavily regulated for a reason. Hotels and taxis are regulated to protect consumers (think safety). Requiring car manufacturers to sell via franchised dealers protects franchised dealers. That's a big difference.

Has there been a wave of consumer harm caused by Uber? What makes taxis safer than Uber?

Re: Tesla is unable to sell its vehicles directly to the public in Texas

#80

Post by mbreese »

hearty778 wrote: post #79
mbreese wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some regulation can be good. Airbnb, Lyft and to a lesser degree Uber (definitely UberX) are all competing with established industries that are heavily regulated for a reason. Hotels and taxis are regulated to protect consumers (think safety). Requiring car manufacturers to sell via franchised dealers protects franchised dealers. That's a big difference.

Has there been a wave of consumer harm caused by Uber? What makes taxis safer than Uber?

Not that I know of. Uber, I think, has done a good job of running a good, self-regulated, business in leu of government regulation. I'm less worried about Uber specifically than the non-medallion transportation sector in general.

Taxis are regulated because you could have issues when someone gets into a random person's car. You can imagine how that would be dangerous for consumers (both physically and financially).

I personally like Uber a lot and had a good experience when I was able to use them. But, you could see how a lesser competitor could cut corners in background checking their drivers.

I'd rather have somethings explicitly regulated than trust that all companies are interested in spending money on things like background checks. AirBnB has the same flaws, but even more pronounced.

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