A new report suggests that Tesla has filed a trademark for its brand under restaurant services.
Yes, you read that right.
As the story in Electrek notes, it’s not the first time Tesla and boss Elon Musk have hinted at plans to expand into food service, but this new information suggests the company really is serious about it. It appears any planned Tesla restaurant would be part of plans to build a supercharging station.
In a way, it makes a lot of sense. Hungry Tesla drivers could get a bite while charging, and even those who aren’t seeking a meal might avail themselves of a cup of coffee while waiting for juice of the electric kind.
On the other hand, Tesla’s track record with the quality and reliability of its automobiles lends itself to a lot of jokes, ones that no doubt will appear below this article in the comments section.
That would hold true, I think, even if Tesla does what most people would say is the smart thing and hire an experienced food-service management company to run any restaurant it puts its brand on.
Obviously, the concept isn’t too far off from gas stations offering convenience stores — who among us has not felt a sudden, inexplicable need for soda/gum/candy while waiting for a bunch of dead dinosaur remains to fill their fuel tank? Who hasn’t pulled into a filling station to take care of some personal bodily business and felt guilty at using the facilities for free and assuaged that guilt by dropping a couple of bucks down on a bag of chips?
So if Tesla can slap its brand on a restaurant and snag some extra cash while drivers get charged up, good on them. Maybe some of the profits can be put back into manufacturing quality.
[Image: Jag_cz/Shutterstock.com]
It might vary but my understanding is that gas stations usually break even on gas. All the profit is in the convenience store. If that’s the case it’s even more true of Tesla as the cars will be there longer.
This was mine as well. Year ago I once asked the son of a family who ran gas stations what the markup was on fuel, he said we pay $1.94 and at the time it was $2.19. When I asked why, he said 3% goes to credit cards so that 25 cents was just a passed on cost of theirs and they made their money on the store and car wash.
When you think how much revenue gas stations currently get from lottery ticket sales, you have to figure as electric cars go mainstream states are going to expand Keno and other gambling options.
I think one of the biggest dangers for ICE cars isn’t government regulators, but gas station owners who figure out that they can make more from a charger than a gas pump. I think we’ll see that in some areas. I think some stations will reduce or eliminate their gas pumps in areas with higher concentrations of EVs. It’ll get tougher to find a pump and when you do, the wait will be longer.
I can see an EV “gas” station paying 5 cents per kWh wholesale and charging, say, as much as 40 cents per kWh. They might also charge different rates at different times, or charge more per kWh for the fastest rate chargers. If an EV gas station had 20 “pumps”, you’d get into a power sharing situation where the capacity of the station would not support full power to all charters at the same time. Maybe only a third of the chargers would be able to operate at full capacity. In time, assuming everyone drive an EV, competition of drive down the electric rates just as with gas. But EV’s are unnecessary luxury items right now and their owners won’t care too much about paying 5x the going rate for the convenience of fast charging on a road trip. Could work, but the number of EV’s on the road needs to increase by two orders of magnitude.
EV charging in the wild is definitely not economical. In my very limited experience with it, I paid as much as I would for gasoline.
Why do you need pumps if everyone has 200+ miles of range and charges nightly? Only use case I could see would be those who have run dangerously low on charge or are traveling in between regions.
Gentlemen’s club. Make it happen Elon.
I was thinking he should hire Howard Johnson.
So we have a restaurant that everything on the menu takes years and years to be made and you will overpay and be left very unsatisfied.
Maybe you’d rather eat here: https://www.fordsgarageusa.com/
I’ve been there a few times. Best Ruby Tuesdays this side of Red Robin.
It’s like Trump steak, but better…
They just want to get in on the chicken sandwich wars.
If you order a cyber burger and it never shows up, and no one in the kitchen knows anything about it, do you eventually get your money back?
Maybe they want to expand into appliances?
A blender with ludicrous mode.
I think they’ve been looking at the HVAC market for the head pump technology they developed for the cars. Outside of the consumer business, they do make things like bioreactors for the pharmaceutical industry. The motor and battery tech could be used in a number of devices like vacuums and yard equipment.
What’s old is new. Howard Johnson’s is coming back with a red roof and a parking lot of superchargers.
https://www.plasticstoday.com/materials/sorry-folks-oil-does-not-come-dinosaurs
https://aoghs.org/oil-almanac/sinclair-dinosaur/
An idea that makes perfect sense given it takes about 40mn to fully recharge a Tesla from empty on a SuperCharger.
Highway gas stations in Italy usually have very decent eateries, it doesn’t have to be a dismal experience.
It’s always been a claim by EV fanbois that time spent charging during road trips would otherwise be spent on bathroom breaks and meals. Putting a restaurant on the same property as a Supercharger would make this a reality.
This brings back good memories of Agip Espresso all over Italy in the 1990’s while a dude typically smoking a cigarette filled up my Alfa!
Hmm.. I suppose “Eat Here..Get Gas” wouldn’t be appropriate!
Kind of a revolting idea! Obviously, Elon’s gotta plug something!