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Comment by brokensegue | Hacker News Reader

lyft charges more for nicer cars so a fair comparison might be to lyft's more premium service

This comparison doesn’t work.

Not all Waymo riders actually want the premium cars and we can’t assume that’s why they are choosing Waymo.

We have to assume that some and perhaps most riders would prefer to pay less to ride in a cheaper car but are mainly choosing Waymo because its autonomous (cool factor, the no-human factor).

Also, California mandates autonomous vehicles be fully electric by 2030. So Waymo literally has to be driving some kind of EV to comply very soon.

Jaguar’s I-pace was a poor-selling EV SUV from a struggling company with a lot of leftover inventory, so it’s almost a guarantee that Waymo got a great fleet deal on them.

The cars are comfortable, even if they aren’t popular. If I had to choose between a beat up Prius uber-X or a Jaguar for a few dollars more, I’m definitely choosing the latter. I had a Mercedes (older cheaper model with mechanical issues) Uber-X fall apart on my ride in Orange County last month (my son and I were dumped near a nice mall at least), also I bet the Waymo doesn’t smell like cigarette smoke.

To me the consistency in Waymos is so valuable. If I take a Waymo in SF or LA it's gonna be the same type of car, it's very well kept, the driver has the same driving style and the same conversation preferences.

Unfortunately I’ve only used it a few times in SF, but I would really love that. I don’t prefer human drivers much anymore (like I want to use self checkout at a grocery store). I’m going to Beijing in a couple of weeks and hope to try whatever they have going on there.

From a quick search, you might need a local to book it, i.e. register the journey with the state apparatus.

(This is a city where buying a simple 40¢ metro ticket requires showing identification.)

It’s really not that hard to buy a metro ticket. But we pay/alipay will make it easier, or I could just get a couple of IC cards that have been around since forever.

This amuses me, because if you’re going to Beijing you can just use the way-better-than-America public transportation.

Not always and not everywhere. I lived in Beijing for 9 years on a subway line (well, after line 10 opened) that would have taken me almost straight to work, but it was so packed I still took a taxi. Maybe the extra lines/capacity makes it more comfortable now, but it wasn’t Tokyo when I was living there.

Beijing: “I could take the train but the public transit is so useful and frequent that it’s crowded so I took a taxi :’(“

My medium sized American city: “what train? What bus? What taxi?

Worth noting how much the quality of each tier of Uber has degraded as well. In 2025, Uber Black car/driver quality is like Uber-X of 2019. Not unusual to get in an Uber Black with blown out shocks, smelling of cigarettes and streetcart food. Reminds me of yellow cab days.

It’s great that you and the other contrarians in this thread value that, but my point is that the general consumer likely overwhelmingly chooses to pick whatever is cheapest save for specialized selections like XL or pet.

I think the best evidence of that is how uber/lyft has to use grey-ish patterns to get you to choose upmarket options. They don’t list the fares sorted by price or even list the options in a consistent order, they will strongly suggest upsells like comfort or black or whatever tier they think gives the best chance of convincing you to pay more than the bare minimum.

They also upsell faster pickup which I have to think is a way better value proposition than sitting in a nicer car temporarily.

I always pick the cheapest Lyft available; I'm not spending a whole lotta time in it so a luxury ride isn't a priority.

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