"John Norris (AngryDrifter)" (angrydrifter)
08/30/2015 at 11:48 • Filed to: None
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"John Norris (AngryDrifter)" (angrydrifter)
08/30/2015 at 11:48 • Filed to: None | 3
| 7 |
Aside: Can you Uber a Tesla?
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I am entertained at the current state of auto technology, computer / phone technology, and politics, and the interaction thereof.
General view from where I sit
So everything here is from my perspective, my opinion, my genetic makeup, my life experience, my observations of current events, and how I interpret them. Others undoubtedly see things differently and I am certainly interested in hearing others perspective on this topic. But here is mine.
By and large among family and friends the more liberal are inclined to be the greatest advocates of Uber and Tesla. As a conservative perhaps I am more set in my ways and less inclined to embrace new and different things. I am totally in support of both enterprises, as I am a big fan of capitalism and the market place and letting the market place decide winners and losers, just not as eager to be a first adopter of either. The success of both is undeniable. Not sure if either will last over the long haul, but both are great success stories for the medium term. The companies took risks starting up and I believe should earn great reward for continued success.
What I marvel at is despite liberal love for Uber and Tesla, there is a lot of liberalism that those two companies blew right through. In general terms liberals like to write laws to fix problems where conservatives are much more inclined to let the market place sort out what the consumer wants. I concede that some liberal legislative initiatives that go against my ideology, like mandatory airbags and other safety devices have saved countless lives, and may not have, or may have taken longer to come to be standard equipment, given the preference of the market. But I feel automobile production is incredibly over legislated as are local laws and rules for taxis. And that over legislation damages the marketplace.
Uber
Getting a license to run a taxi through New York City is crazy expensive. I don’t have any data on how that started or evolved, but I just know it was a liberal initiative to care and protect the helpless citizens and visitors of the city. Then Uber comes in and blows right past all that. I don’t know if liberal politicians are going to successfully shut it down, but I am sure liberals in NY use Uber extensively and were proud first adopters enabling its start. Yes, I have no data for that, I’m just guessing. If you have contrary data, I’d love to see it.
The laws for taxis in any major city are complicated and that’s a barrier to any start up taxi competitor and therefore a negative towards the marketplace. As companies get old and complacent, a fresh competitor can bring a better service or a better mouse trap to the market, and force a better or cheaper market place for the consumer. Overly legislated markets end up being protected markets that dissuade competitive improvement. Uber didn’t fight the taxi laws, they leaped over them. As a conservative I love that. Lawlessness is beyond conservative, it’s libertarian. The overly regulated market place needed that. The consumer wins. At least for now.
There was a Gawker post this past week where someone was rallying for support of busses and trains in order to stave off the success of Uber and keep public transportation alive. Heavy handed legislation can’t be far behind.
Tesla
It’s so green. And they’re going to make big batteries for our houses so we can store energy from our rooftop solar. And Elon dresses so hip. And he’s so international. How could a liberal not love all that?
And their cars keep getting faster, and they broke the consumer reports reliability ratings, how could a jalop not love that, either conservative or liberal.
The media and Wall Street love them. Their stock price defies the laws of physics. Tesla is 75% the value (Market Cap) of GM with 2% of the sales (revenue). GM made $13 billion in earnings (EBITDA), Tesla lost money. The numbers are similar in scope for Tesla comparison to Ford. Expectations are pretty darn high for Tesla’s future.
Liberals love Tesla but they hate corporate welfare. Tesla buyers get their cars $10,000 cheaper then Tesla sells them for through a tax credit. If that was GM or Ford that would be corporate welfare. But it’s shiny and new, and green, and leading edge, therefore it is good. At least for now.
Entry into the automotive production market was thought to be impossible with the cost of a factory, tooling, and compliance with all the safety legislation and testing. Somehow Tesla ignored all that and jumped in. My hat is off to them. They are an entrepreneurial success story. I’m still dubious. I expect range anxiety will result in sales limitations for Tesla. But I concede I never thought they would get as far as they have.
Here is the political angle. They Ubered their way past bureaucratic legislation for requiring the use of local dealerships, at least in many states. Damn the protection legislation, full speed ahead. Perhaps some Republicans helped put that legislation in place, but regulating the marketplace like that, and maintaining that legislation, is not a very conservative thing to do. I’m guessing those were mostly liberal initiatives advertised to protect the consumer. Tearing down the wall of dealership protection is an awfully conservative thing to do for such a liberal darling. From a link below the Republican States seem to be the ones holding on to the protectionist legislation. I love the political irony.
The Political Season
So with the forthcoming Presidential elections where do the candidates stand on Uber and Tesla and their recalcitrant legal positions? Here are some.
Hilary is warning us about Uber subverting labor laws:
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Apparently, Elon’s a Hilary Donor: But then again Trump has been historically a Hilary donor as well.
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I haven’t seen a Donald Trump position on Uber or Tesla. If one is forthcoming I’m sure it will be entertaining and insult someone.
Chris Christi signed a bill in NJ in Tesla’s favor:
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After Hilary waffling on Uber, Jeb Bush went all in: although the Washington Post is rather dismissive of his position.
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This state map of Tesla ‘no dealer required’ looks rather favorable towards Democrats being free market supporters.
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Edit #1:
Bernie Sanders on Uber:
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If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
> John Norris (AngryDrifter)
08/30/2015 at 12:10 |
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You could Uber one, since it’s not a full time job where you have to drive all day long, but yesterday I saw a Leaf taxi which makes no sense because you can only operate it for a part of the day, and then it has to spend the rest of the day charging.
Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
> John Norris (AngryDrifter)
08/30/2015 at 12:17 |
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On Tesla: its more conservatives that are in the way direct sales. Dealership associations are not throwing money at the democrats, Teslas free market solution is being blocked by republicans. Most of those states that Tesla cant sell in are Red states. The current republican party is less about free market solutions as it is about maintenance of the status quo. And on the stock price note I’m guessing its so high because no other start up car company has been able to make the progress that Tesla has in decades (Unless you want to count Kia and Hyundai, which were born out of already massive companies)
On Uber: It will be interesting how big of an issue this will turn into. Uber was born because of an government made monopoly and isnt going down without a fight. The idea that this will birth anti-regulatory voters is an interesting one and only time will tell there.
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John Norris (AngryDrifter)
> Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/30/2015 at 12:27 |
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“On Tesla: its more conservatives that are in the way direct sales. Dealership associations are not throwing money at the democrats, Teslas free market solution is being blocked by republicans. Most of those states that Tesla cant sell in are Red states. ”
Yes. Of course I said that in the post:
From a link below the Republican States seem to be the ones holding on to the protectionist legislation.
...
This state map of Tesla ‘no dealer required’ looks rather favorable towards Democrats being free market supporters.
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Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
> John Norris (AngryDrifter)
08/30/2015 at 12:39 |
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My bad, missed that.
bryan40oop
> John Norris (AngryDrifter)
08/30/2015 at 13:50 |
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“Aside: Can you Uber a Tesla?”
Till it needs charged, why not.
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John Norris (AngryDrifter)
> bryan40oop
08/30/2015 at 14:18 |
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Perhaps I shouldn’t have posed it rhetorically. There’s a link to a Chicago based Uber Tesla that follows the question.
gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> John Norris (AngryDrifter)
08/31/2015 at 20:01 |
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dealership laws were put in place in the 40 and 50s when the manufacturers started to buy up dealerships as a way to cut the mark-up and lower prices or to reinforce the franchise agreement between the manufacturer and dealership.
“Liberals love Tesla but they hate corporate welfare. “ I don’t think a lot of republicans were thrilled about the auto bailouts.
I wouldn’t make the blanket statement that republicans hate regulations. Just at the current period the republican party is somewhat aligned with the libertarian party.
Regarding Uber I find it interesting that when it comes to businesses, breaking laws and rules the repubilican party (driven by the libertarian party) is all for it, yet when it comes to drugs and many other non-violent criminal laws they push so hard for mandatory minimum sentencing.