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Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

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Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#211

Post by Muromec »

harmmonica wrote: post #165
Animats wrote: post #132

Waymos will get cheaper to make as they scale up. The Ioniq version [1] costs less to build. All the sheet metal and mechanical mods for Waymo are done at the Hyundai factory in Georgia.[2] Waymo just mounts the electronics. Jobs at the Hyundai factory start at $23.66/hour, with reasonably good benefits.[3] [1] https://waymo.com/blog/2024/10/waymo-and-hyundai-enter-partn... [2] https://www.hmgma.com/ [3] https://care…

We're far from them doing it, but I have to imagine at some point Waymo, assuming they survive, will operate similar to Uber and Lyft in terms of pricing vs vehicle type. They have to realize how critical consistency-of-ride is so I'm not suggesting they'll have tons of options, but they will "have to" tier their offering lest someone else comes along (assuming the tech becomes more widespread) and offers a tier they…

It's not critical if you will still pay for shit service especially if competitors are like that too.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#212

Post by sgerenser »

recursive wrote: post #111
jpdstan wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst is Revel, which, in NYC, are ALL teslas/EVs. worst taxi experience of my life was a 1 hr drive to airport in stop and go street light traffic. I appreciated the hustle but deleted the app soon after my gag reflex subsided. they should at least disable regenerative braking or something

Regen braking is a way of slowing down like drum brakes. It's not inherently any less smooth.

By context, he obviously means automatically applied regen breaking upon releasing the accelerator (so-called 1-pedal driving). While its possible to maintain a smooth speed with this feature, some drivers are using it improperly when e.g. approaching slowing traffic by just releasing the pedal and allowing the car to basically brake aggressively rather than feathering it to allow the car to coast smoothly to a stop.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#213

Post by killion »

This looks like a clickbait study. Waymo is cheaper 100% of the time for me. The two big data points I think they purposely glossed over are:

1. Tip – Uber and Lyft cost 20% more than the ride price.

2. Car quality – Sure, a Corolla on Lyft is cheaper than Waymo. But once you select something desirable the price goes up, a lot.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#214

Post by shiftpgdn »

lupusreal wrote: post #150
mdaniel wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I formally report it every time I'm in a car that has the deodorizer turned up to 11 because it makes me nauseous. My worst one was a 30 minute ride to the airport in LA - I thought about just having them pull over and ordering a replacement

Just say you feel carsick and want a window open for fresh air. They surely don't want puke in their car so they should be willing to oblige.

They get paid $300 (may be different these days) if you like in the car. The financial incentive for making you puke is quite high.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#215

Post by ai-christianson »

shiftpgdn wrote: post #208
harmmonica wrote: post #137

As a Waymo-booster on HN for a while now, here's my latest anecdote. I tried to figure out how to take Waymo to LAX even though it's not actually in their territory yet just because I value the experience so much. I was borderline going to take it within walking distance (about half a mile), but got lazy at the last minute. I took Lyft instead, and, as if the universe cursed my laziness, I booked a "comfort" car for…

Why did you cancel on the Tesla Model Y?

He said "that cancelled" so I think it wasn't on his end.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#216

Post by quonn »

rdtsc wrote: post #179
oytis wrote: post #133

People are eager to pay money to not deal with other people. Which makes me pessimistic about the future of humanity given recent developments in AI really

> People are eager to pay money to not deal with other people I wonder if it's cultural. For instance I always hear how Japan has a lot of vending machines and am wondering if it's just pure tech advancement and efficiency at work, maybe lack of space to open a proper kiosk with a seller, or there is a cultural element of not wanting to "inconvenience" others having to interact with them.

Given how Japan works in general I bet it's the latter. It's a great country to travel and eat alone, for example.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#217

Post by kelnos »

Animats wrote: post #186
harmmonica wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're far from them doing it, but I have to imagine at some point Waymo, assuming they survive, will operate similar to Uber and Lyft in terms of pricing vs vehicle type. They have to realize how critical consistency-of-ride is so I'm not suggesting they'll have tons of options, but they will "have to" tier their offering lest someone else comes along (assuming the tech becomes more widespread) and offers a tier they…

There's a larger Ioniq 9. But the real future is probably a 2-seater with no steering wheel. That handles most usage.

This makes lots of sense to me. A 2-seater is often a hard sell for a private owner (even one with no kids), but I'd bet the majority (or at least a plurality) of taxi/ride-share trips are for one or two people.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#218

Post by kelnos »

passwordoops wrote: post #156
Animats wrote: post #132

Waymos will get cheaper to make as they scale up. The Ioniq version [1] costs less to build. All the sheet metal and mechanical mods for Waymo are done at the Hyundai factory in Georgia.[2] Waymo just mounts the electronics. Jobs at the Hyundai factory start at $23.66/hour, with reasonably good benefits.[3] [1] https://waymo.com/blog/2024/10/waymo-and-hyundai-enter-partn... [2] https://www.hmgma.com/ [3] https://care…

>Waymos will get cheaper to make as they scale up. Meaning their profits will rise as they inevitably increase prices

Well it depends on their competition and what the market will bear. If they have competitors with a similar-quality product that is undercutting them on price, Waymo will have to lower prices to compete.

And regardless, there's always a ceiling when it comes to what people will pay. In the case of a robotaxi there's of course significant marginal cost to expand the fleet of vehicles, but if they can make more money with more cars at a lower price point (than fewer cars at a higher price point), then they'll do so.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#219

Post by strictnein »

turtlesdown11 wrote: post #200
strictnein wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Savannah's COL is 22% below the national average. $23.66/hr starting pay plus benefits definitely isn't a "starvation wage".

> In Chatham County, the living wage per hour necessary for one adult with no children is $22.46 while those with one kid is $35.70, two kids is $43.45, and three kids is $56.93. https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2024/12/09/what-is-a-...

So the entry level job at the factory is a living wage for the area it's in. Sounds like that's what people have been asking for?

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#220

Post by idontwantthis »

rcpt wrote: post #51
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been picked up multiple times by Uber drivers who have, essentially, bragged? about being drunk or high. I've also had multiple drivers in multiple countries try to sell me drugs. I also once had a driver in Chile who, somehow, micro-slept in stop and go traffic every time the car was stopped (which, was actually fascinating, and would've been very concerning if we ever got going more than like 10 mph). Women al…

I also had one of those drivers who would sleep in traffic. I assumed he was very sleepy deprived and it was stressing me out while we went over hwy 17 in Santa Cruz

Why didn’t you end the ride and get out?
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