Added on January 27, 2016  The News Wheel   , , , ,
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WeFuel and Other Startups Fight to Bring You Gas

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Photo: Amazon

These days, you can get just about anything delivered to you. The internet and smartphones have made just about anything, like textbooks, furniture, and food sent to where you are reclining (possibly sipping something tropical as you gaze outside at the snow) as easy as a few taps on a keyboard or touchscreen.

Notice how we said “just about” everything. For most of the country, delivery of one product eludes our grasp: gasoline.

Notice how we said “most of” the country. Start-ups in the vicinity of Silicon Valley have begun taking the station out of the gas equation by offering to deliver your fill-up directly to your car, wherever it is. One of the newest of these is called WeFuel, which will bring you gas, and even fill your tank if you are not there (so long as your gas tank door is unlocked and your car is in an uncovered space).

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However, WeFuel and its startup competitors all charge somewhere in the vicinity of $7, plus the price of the gasoline, to bring it to you, all in the interest of saving the consumer time.

That, by the way, is the reason that these startups are all localized: Silicon Valley is populated by wealthy, busy people who would be willing to shell out an additional $7 for the convenience of someone filling up their car while they are getting lunch or attending a meeting.

On the other hand, one way that WeFuel is looking to expand, it told The Verge, is by partnering with car rental companies or by offering monthly subscriptions to avoid the surcharge.

Perhaps, once these startups are larger, people will no longer be bothered by the price of the convenience of delivered gasoline.

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News Source: The Verge