
Inside Faraday Future - coloneltcb
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/19/9761852/faraday-future-car-company-interview-tour-electric-tesla-competitor
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shostack
One thing I really worry about with the future of cars is ownership.

If you are renting your car, you cannot do as you like with it, and if you
stop paying, you lose transportation. Today, if you own a car it might be an
absolute beater if you don't maintain it, and it might be illegal to drive
without insurance, but as long as you have gas, odds are it will actually run.

Further, I wonder about the subscription model as it is applied here. Many
people buy cheap cars outright because they don't like ongoing payments. If
the future is a subscription model, it seems they can raise the price whenever
they like (market forces aside).

While I think the whole concept of owning a car is definitely something in
flux (as it should be), I hope the alternative is not just "car +
subscription" and ultimately paying a higher price in the end.

~~~
andreasley
In Switzerland, there is a service called "Mobility" where you can basically
rent a car by the hour. You have to set up an account and provide them with a
copy of your drivers license once, but after that, a car can easily and
instantly be booked on their website or by using their mobile app. In larger
cities, there's always a few cars nearby, ready to roll. They take care of all
the maintenance stuff, repairs and insurance; you just pay a fixed amount per
km you drive and for the duration of your use.

It's remarkably convenient and cheaper than owning a car if you don't drive
that much. I can totally see this as the future – especially with self-driving
vehicles.

~~~
mdolon
They have this is in most major US cities too (Zipcar, Enterprise Car Share,
Hertz 24/7, GetAround).

I tried it for a bit in NYC but found that while it was useful for things like
grocery shopping, most of the times public transportation was sufficient for
my needs. For longer trips spanning multiple days, it was almost always
cheaper to rent from traditional vendors. I can see it being useful if you
live on the outskirts of the city or in more suburban areas, though.

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DrScump
I think thr original full title, "Inside Faraday Future, the secretive car
company chasing Tesla" is more descriptive.

