You’re a busy person, and standing at a gas station with a nozzle in your hand is for plebes.
Not to put too much of undergrad term paper slant on it, but that’s what Bentley silently suggests by rolling out a trial fuel delivery service for its owners. The ultra-luxury automaker has teamed up with U.S. tech startup Filld to offer the perk.
For the next three months, Bentley owners in California can have gasoline delivered to their vehicle via an app. Because the service (called “Filld for Bentley”) is meant to be the ultimate in convenience, that means anytime, anywhere. Owners simply open an app and request the filling time — the vehicle’s connectivity functions and the Filld app work together to locate the vehicle and unlock the fuel cap.
The automaker calls it “concierge fuel service,” which brings to mind images of a silver urn rolled in on an ornate teak dolly. Perhaps even a decanter. (And how will these deliverymen be dressed?)
The trial could herald a permanent fuel delivery service, though the automaker claims it will first weigh owner feedback. Bentley says it sees the two companies working together on other convenience-based initiatives.
Christophe Georges, Bentley’s product and marketing director, said in a statement that the company is looking at ways “to offer our customers tailored, convenient, smart services that afford them the greatest luxury of all: more time.”
Filld, a San Francisco-based startup that raised $3.25 million in seed funding last fall, first offered its fuel delivery services in the Silicon Valley area.
[Image: Bentley Media]
Issue #1:
Fancy ass people don’t park their expensive crap outside, they’re in private garages behind gates and barriers, away from the filthy fingers of the public. How does Filld access these places without proper access authority?
“Hola I’m Juan, I’m here to fill thee tank on.. Bentley Bentaygal.”
Sweet irony the day someone impersonates the fill up guy and carjacks your “Bentley”.
It’s a good plan. Steal all the Touareg Prestige XL models in LA.
Why? So they can all be parked together and lit on fire?
I’ve always enjoyed a nice fire.
“Come on baby light my fire”
And, Tesla concierge will show up and plug your car into the charger.
I was just thinking about this as it relate to EVs.
As time rolls on and EVs further improve, Bentley would do well to adopt them for the following reasons.
1) Silky-smooth drive train. Even the world’s most refined, elegant V12 has nothing on a bare-bones Nissan Leaf for a smooth, silent, vibration-free ride.
It’s like the Simpsons’ Mr. Burns said while getting his nails filed: “Ohh! I need some more ether. I can still feel the movement of the emory board.” Mr. Burns would definitely prefer an EV Bentley over a gas-powered one.
2) Effortless refueling. Eventually, I’m sure all EVs will come standard with wireless induction charging. You don’t even have to plug in. You just park your car over the disk in the garage (or better yet, the car takes over and parks itself). Then you don’t need to have a gas lackey over every few days.
If Tesla implements wireless charging (and improves their interiors), they will beat Bentley at this game easily.
CoreyDL, the typical natural habitat for the Bentley is parked by the valet in the most prominent position in front of an expensive restaurant or nightclub. Its a “hey look at me I’m rich” car. I’d have the valet offer a refueling service where they top off the tank when they park your car.
I guess, if you can afford a Bentley, you can afford this.
If you can afford a Bentley, you also can afford to have some dude take your car to the gas station anytime you need fuel.
This is the best point.
It’s one of the best perks personal assistants get.
Yes, but what advantages does this motor car have over, say, a train, which I could also afford?
Well, you’ll notice how the heated gas pedal warms your feet, and the … gently massages your buttocks.
If you can afford a Bentley, you can afford your own private gas station.
Seems to me that if you have a Bentley and want want “the greatest luxury of all: more time” you could sell the $200k car, get out of the luxury bauble game entirely, and just work less.
Pretty much. If you have the money to comfortably buy a new Bentley, and you’re worried about your time, you should probably stop working so hard and relax, rather than pissing it away on what is a car that costs as much as a modest house.
modest? down here 200k would buy you a nice house 4 bedrooms easy
I suspect for most Bentley owners, that $200k represents a very small fraction of their time.
Alas, it isn’t possible to fine tune a seven-figure income that precisely. Usually, you can’t say, “I’ll take $200K less, but I’ll never work any evenings or weekends.” It’s all or nothing.
I would think a good deal of Bentley’s are chauffeur driven- why not let Jeeves handle the gas?
Traditionally, one was meant to be chaffeured in their Rolls, but drive their Bentley. Not sure if that applies today though.
Bentleys mostly are owner-driver cars in the US.
China has a lot of chauffeurs. That’s why even smaller cars like Audi A4s are available with long wheelbase versions.
bikegoesbaa, the purpose of owning a Bentley is to signal your wealth and status to other people who care about such things. Unlike a private jet or a big house, you can bring your Bentley to the restaurant or nightclub.
Not necessarily. Some Bentayga owners might just want a SUV with a very luxurious interior. One thing is for sure, they aren’t buying them for their looks.
Expanding on your point about status, unlike a private jet, a big house or a yacht, a very expensive car typically costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, not millions, so the status/cost ratio is very high.
Will they also pick it up when you need service and leave you a loaner to use as long as you need it?
My mother would like this service for her 02 Altima.
I’m always getting requests from my fiance to fill up her car. Don’t really blame her, oftentimes there’s bums hanging around hitting people up for cash and just unpleasant characters at the nearby gas stations.
Maybe it’s time to bring back full service filling stations.
No it’s time to bring the hammer down on these dregs that panhandle for a living. I don’t get why cops can’t just scoop these people up on the spot. Most unfortunately have very real mental issues, the cost of defunding state mental institutions IMO, but that’s a whole can of worms I’m opening… It was sold as a cost savings to the state, well I’d argue the cost to society of having the crazies ply the streets is much higher. To give credit where it is due, the subway in Novosibirsk was the cleanest and not-pee smelling one that I’ve ever ridden (compared to NYC, Chicago, Paris), with not a single panhandler in sight. Criticize their methods all you want, the Russians know how to clean house and get the job done when necessary. That’s not to say it’s all good, last time I was in Moscow in the early 2000s it had plenty of that full ‘subway experience.’
Because it is not illegal in most places. Cops hassling panhandlers made it to court a few years ago in my area and the cops got their butts handed to them by the judge. You have a right to be in public and ask for money, for better or worse. Though in my area they cannot approach you unless you are offering them money, they can only stand there with their signs. But a gas station would be another matter entirely – that’s private property, and simply NOT an issue here.
I agree with you very much that the lack of decent mental health services is a HUGE problem in the US.
“Criticize their methods all you want, the Russians know how to clean house and get the job done when necessary.”
Utterly reprehensible.
Cry me a river Jim. In this particular case, it’s what was needed. In our own country, there used to be pretty stringent vagrancy laws, as well as a place for the truly mentally ill. Now we just give them their meds and hope that they take them and come back for a refill. Now it’s fallen on law enforcement to handle these people, further straining police resources. I still occasionally see schizophrenics walking down the street screaming at the top of their lungs, even now that I live in a better part of town. When I lived on the East side of Indy, about half a mile from a methadone clinic, it was a pretty regular occurrence. I’d see cops wrestling these people having an episode to the ground. Of course it’d be better handled by having institutions where these folks could be getting the care they need.
a police state is all well and good until the police turn their attention onto you. you want to live in that kind of environment, go back to f**king Russia.
I just told you that I’m talking about the system that used to exist HERE IN THE US, are you that dense?
Get the job done… probably by abducting the homeless to do their Russian steroid testing on helpless people
gtem, I know what you’re talking about. I think there’s a social aspect to it as well as the quantifiable things you’re discussing. It used to be a huge stigma to panhandle. It was shameful… you just didn’t do it. Your family and community would take care of you before they’d let it get to that point or if you were insane you’d be institutionalized. Now we’re not allowed to judge people and stigmatizing a way of life is discrimination (see also: single parenthood. By every objective measure it’s worse for your children but if you say that you’re anti-single-moms).
It will be interesting to see if this idea really works or not.
They can’t be the first to have thought of it.
There are so many Mercedes running around that they would have a much larger customer base. The exclusivity and prestige of MB in the U.S. has pretty much gone the way of Cadillac’s.
If this idea works, then some clever entrepreneur will show up at the parking lot of Google, Microsoft or similar companies and fill the tanks of the subscribers’ cars. Americans are pretty egalitarian, though, and like to pay the lowest price for gasoline, so my guess is that the status quo will continue unchanged.
Jeezus. How lazy can people actually be? The number of people that are actually too busy doing vitally essential things to take time out of their incredibly busy schedule to waste time at a gas station could probably fit in a minivan.
For various reasons, they aren’t saying the real pitch: Don’t like gas stations? Have we got a deal for you!
It’s not how lazy people are, it’s a question of “quality of life”. Yeah, I can mow my own lawn, but for the price my gardener charges, I prefer to enjoy that time relaxing, or doing family stuff. It’s all about tradeoffs.. Later, when the kids are grown and I’m not trying to meet a work deadline, I’ll mow my own grass again..
This car is 100k MORE than the next most expensive competitor, they really looking hard to find some stuff to justify the price.
So according to the Filld site they run around in Ford pickups with 100 gallon tanks. That sounds resource efficient. And it saves time so the great and good left coasters can get to their climate change events.
Oh, swipe and a miss! You know that 40% who vote Republican in CA? Yeah, they use this service excitedly…
It’s an interesting business model…but as mentioned earlier in the comments, access to the Bentley could be tough depending on where the owner works/hangs out…Seems like logging on to the app, setting up auto bill payment, etc isn’t much of a time savings…
Here in suburban Buffalo there are more gas stations than Tim Hortons…I can hardly drive half a mile without passing a convenient fuel stop…buying fuel is made ultra convenient in North America…
You got lots o’money and you don’t want to go to the gas station, get a Tesla.
With a city range of 270 miles for the Bentayga, you’re right. A Model X has 289 miles of range, it’s quicker, and $100k cheaper.
A “full recharge” of the Bentayga takes two minutes.
And there are a lot more “charging stations.”
@ras815: And there are a lot more “charging stations.”
Not true. You don’t always need a charging station. Usually, an electrical outlet will work just fine. A lot more of those than gas stations. Besides, as an experienced EV owner, I can tell you that with a 200+ mile range, it would be rare that you’d charge anywhere but home.
If you can afford a Bentayga and you are traveling further than the range of a Model X, you’re going to use your fractional aircraft ownership card and fly. If I’m going any kind of long distance, I’m going to fly. No long road trips. There was a time I enjoyed road trips, but traffic and driver behavior keeps me from doing that now.
Bentley has an app to get fuel, but Rolls Royce’s app delivers Grey Poupon.
Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?
It’s kind of reminiscent of Volvo’s app that lets you have packages delivered to your car.
Boxes of bulbs and fuses and transmission solenoids!?
Very nice.
Hah!
Add those little plastic power window regulator-track guides to the list!
/tips hat
Also, please don’t forget a set of new struts and every single plastic component in the engine bay. At 60k, the heat turns it all into a less delicious version of toffee.
My fiance’s hand me down ’04 S60 had some clattery struts (either mounts or spring perches?) at 120k miles, and had gone through some tie rod ends and/or balljoints by that point. Those P2 platform Volvos do not have the most durable suspensions IMO. The heavier XC90 only accentuates the problem, same goes for the Ford Five Hundred that borrowed that platform and added on a ton of weight.
So the Taurus and Sable for 08/09 suffered this as well? Doesn’t seem like I hear problems reported on those.
Only in Silicon Valley: $3.25mill in seed money to the guy who pumps gas…… Once this goes viral , Bentley drivers may need this service, just to avoid having to listen to startup pitches from every gas station attendant who fills their tank.
What about just getting some Uber guy to come over with a jerry can? Or an Uber/Chevron deal to let the Uber driver multitask a bit…
I’m absolutely sure Filld’s end goal IS an acquisition by someone like Uber. It’s not like they’d ever be profitable on their own.
Looking at pics of those Filld trucks, I’m reminded of the old trucker term Suicide Jockey. I guess people will get out of your way if they see all those red stickers!
Filling up is just so…gauche…
If they could somehow figure out how to make the car call their app when fuel level is low they would make a killing.
The rich get richer, the poor gets poorer, and Rome will soon burn.
The rich aren’t like us. So, if someone can find another way to monetize their time, they too can become rich. But, there is also this, the rich don’t want to even set one physical foot in our world. Food is delivered to the mansion, why not gas? All places of entertainment have special entrances, private boxes, rooms, special airport lounges, special access to customs and security etc. They literally don’t need to set foot in the vast world of 99-percenters that support their ability to get fed, hydrated, entertained and transported.
Given the choice, I don’t want to step foot in the physical world of the proles either.
I wonder if the really snooty owners can select vintage and octane. “Oh, do you have the ’72 Sunoco 100 or the 71 Mobil 94 octane. The super snooty will only choose premium European petrols – say the “99 ELF 5 -star or perhaps the 2003 Agip Super Sint 100. The 1-percenters are really starting to get on my nerves now – given Trump’s taxes were released. Miserable tax and draft dodging prick.