Tesla Diner Drops Most Menu Options and Cuts Hours Just Weeks After Opening

https://www.jalopnik.com/1938650/tesla-diner-drops-most-menu-options-cuts-hours/

18•raattgift•5mo ago

Comments

sybercecurity•5mo ago

What is the business case for Tesla Diners? I can only think of Tesla/EV drivers on road trip looking for a place along their route to kill time while recharging. That can't be that big enough of a market.

silisili•5mo ago

Do most charging stations even have enough charging spots to generate enough foot traffic to support a restaurant? Most restaurants near me have 50-100 parking spots. Even the tiny ones ran by a single person tend to have 8-10.

jordanb•5mo ago

I hear themed restaurants are going to be big in the 2000s. Did you see Pulp Fiction? Gotta get on that trend early.

atonse•5mo ago

No idea... We've been perfectly happy to go to the Wawa-based Superchargers. They're clean, bright, and have a decent selection of things you'd stop for during a road trip.

I think the longest we've spent at a Supercharger was maybe 20 mins. The charge rates really drop (like charging any battery), so it often makes more sense to just stop a couple times with a low battery and add another 100 miles of range in < 5-10 mins.

But I would hope that Tesla has much better data on their users to be able to determine how long people would stop, and where.

bryanlarsen•5mo ago

Yeah, the Wawa supercharger is an essential stop. There aren't any chargers in Lake Superior provincial park so you pretty much always have to stop in Wawa when driving the Trans-Canada across Ontario. It'll likely be a longer charge for that reason, so you should check out the Goose statue or cross the road to Timmy's while you wait.

toomuchtodo•5mo ago

Vanity.

xnx•5mo ago

Plenty of brands have "flagship stores" that are used as marketing even if the location is not net profitable.

flowerthoughts•5mo ago

It looks like they may have used the sheet metal from the cybertruck to build it, so perhaps it was a way to make use of a stockpile of steel? And real estate is a good investment. I'm sure there's a tax subsidy in here somewhere too.

m463•5mo ago

I think there is demand for "stuff" while recharging.

I would assume a better model might be locating the supercharger near a robust/successful location with plenty of restaurants and coffee shops.

but some superchargers are in pretty desolate areas - that might be a better place for "the company cafeteria"

CharlesW•5mo ago

"Burn down the banana stand? You said there was money in it!" — Michael Bluth

leetharris•5mo ago

Typical blog spam slop from one of the worst offending sites.

"Tesla Diner celebrity chef Eric Greenspan told Eater that the menu was scaled down due to unprecedented demand"

This is because there have been non-stop lines and demand. They are simplifying so they can get food to everyone.

dumbmrblah•5mo ago

I agree. I dislike Elon as much as the next guy, but this seems like a pretty viable business.

eighthourblink•5mo ago

Agree. Also how the article (well really the people) were complaining about long lines. I mean, is that not usually the case when something opens for the first time?

josefritzishere•5mo ago

Is it too early to open death pool bets?

general1726•5mo ago

Tesla Dinner is essentially trying to reinvent a gas pump convenient store with facilities. Somebody maybe asked why gas pump had the facilities around them with an employee who can help you if something does not work, sometimes even in 3am?

Maybe Tesla dinner has been a brainchild of somebody who actually drove BEV and got into charging problems in the middle of a night in a bumfuck nowhere and not enough charge to get to a different point? I have been in that situation, that feeling of helplessness while you are essentially holding your salvation in your hand, yet it does not work, can be really crushing.

rsynnott•5mo ago

> You all thought several other automakers would make a better diner than Tesla

Notoriously, VW makes its own sausages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_currywurst

> Initially, the plant received whole animals from a Volkswagen-owned farm that were butchered on site – this has since ceased and pre-butchered animals are sourced locally

I mean, really they should be getting the pigs from Bosch.

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