It Looks Like Tesla Has Finally Set Its Sights On Uber

Photo from Business Insider

Is Tesla finally setting its sights on Uber? I've written a bit about both companies on this blog; and while a part of me is enthralled by technology and in moments of lost scruples yearn for the caprice of a Tesla, I remain stolid on the whole matter or electric cars. To me, being in control of a vehicle remains an almost lost symbol of freedom.

Nevertheless, as I've been reading and writing about Uber and Tesla, the latter has remained, for me, on top: Elon Musk is one of the most dynamic inventors the world has seen in many years, and he simply has a bigger, broader vision. Moreover, he's a capitalist: he wants to manufacture great products, and he wants people who buy them to have an efficient way of paying them off quickly and generating further revenue. And that's what's appealing for me about his business model of a self-driving Tesla fleet of cars, and what's at the centre of Musk's competition with Uber.

Here's Musk's brilliant business model quoted directly from Tesla's Master Plan Part Deux:

You will also be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet just by tapping a button on the Tesla phone app and have it generate income for you while you're at work or on vacation, significantly offsetting and at times potentially exceeding the monthly loan or lease cost. This dramatically lowers the true cost of ownership to the point where almost anyone could own a Tesla. Since most cars are only in use by their owner for 5% to 10% of the day, the fundamental economic utility of a true self-driving car is likely to be several times that of a car which is not.

This is what makes Tesla superior to Uber--the benefit of ownership with the ability of it to truly be obtained quicker by having your Tesla make money while you're not driving it.

Conversely, Uber wants to take cars off the road; the company doesn't want you to own a car--they think cars are bad. Instead, Uber wants to flood the roads with their own cars, as well as the airways with drones and flying cars. They will own the cars, and you'll be a mere passenger. And this to me is an attenuation of freedom.

This is also the reason for Tesla's recent disclaimer on its order form:

Please note that using a self-driving Tesla for car sharing and ride hailing for friends and family is fine, but doing so for revenue purposes will only be permissible on the Tesla Network, details of which will be released next year.

While Uber has been accused of dumping its employees and using them as a step into autonomous vehicles, Tesla is creating a product that comes with a way of quickly paying it off and even making money with it. 

That said, it's interesting to note that creating revenue with a Tesla outside the Tesla Network will not be permissible. This suggests that the vehicle will be programmed to somehow block revenue generation outside the network. And here's where, indeed, the freedom of Tesla reaches its limit.