• Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    5 months ago

    I’ve talked to plenty of people that lease a car and a gas card that only works on certain gas stations. If there’s a discount, people will flock to that stuff. The only reason we don’t do this with cars is because the car companies can’t get it done.

    Hell, this does exist for cars: American Tesla’s only do fast charge at Tesla superchargers. The worst part is that Tesla is the only party that can build a reasonably reliable charging network, so now other brands are allowed to charge at Tesla’s excellent service.

    There’s a cultural component to it (“I’ve always bought phones from carriers, why wouldn’t I?”) but discounts do work. It’s why ad-supported phones and tablets are a thing. People will gladly get a shittier service for a discount.

    • Pete Hahnloser@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      5 months ago

      I’m of that particular age where my memories start just after AT&T was broken up into Baby Bells (to the extent that I thought “Ma Bell” was a weird shortening of Mountain Bell). So I know we’ve been here before.

      Tesla’s not a great example, given that their connector is now a standard. Yes, it’ll take year for other charging networks to get built out, but that’s a temporary situation that’s a tech question. Cell service is not.