'You Oughta Know': Tesla Driver Charges At Starbucks Station. Then He Tries To Order A Coffee

"I always use stars at this location."

Tesla driver charges at Starbucks station

Photo by: Unsplash.com

Madeleine Wagner

By: Madeleine Wagner

Feb 4, at 6:00pm ET

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One road warrior recently posted a TikTok with a very specific geographic warning about attempting to recharge, both body and vehicle. The spot: the California-Nevada border.

The 300k Mile Tesla (@300k.mile.tesla) recently stopped in the small unincorporated town of Primm (formerly known as State Line) to charge up his Tesla Model 3. While he was there, he decided to grab some "go-juice" for himself.

‘The Next Starbucks Is An Hour Away’

In a video that’s gotten 61,300 views, he tells the internet that after he’d charged his vehicle, he went to grab a coffee and got quite the surprise.

"The most expensive coffee at any Starbucks," he writes in the caption to the short video.

Then, he reveals he paid $11 for his coffee. He explains that the reason the coffee shop can get away with that high price is that it "is a private franchise." Next, the internet gets to work. The issue? The phrase: "private franchise."

But first, Carouselambra1 (@carouselambra1) intimates that the reason the coffee shop can get away with borderline extortionate pricing is that "the next Starbucks … is about an hour away if you are going north and a couple hours if you are going south."

However, in a move that reflects the contrariness of online commenters, fewer users are as appalled at the over-ten-dollar coffee as are affronted by The 300k’s lack of understanding of the Starbucks-specific business model.

"Starbucks has no franchise. You just let them rob you lol," says Angela Navarro with just a little bit of schadenfreude in her tone.

While Robyn (@robynjhunt) gives a little more context: "It’s a licensed store run by Prim Valley resorts they can set their pricing," she explains.

Does Starbucks Offer Franchises?

So, The 300k Mile Tesla decides to do a little digging of his own. In a subsequent video, he reveals that his description of the store as a "private franchise" came from information he’d found online.

Since he’d gotten such pointed feedback, though, he’d done a little more looking. He says that a Reddit thread explained that "it’s most likely a licensed store." That means, though the location can set its own prices, it still has "to abide by Starbucks’ rules." With no other Starbucks within an hour’s drive, the location has easily got the market cornered.

What Is The Difference Between A Franchise And A Licensed Store?

While both business agreements operate under an established brand identity and corresponding rules, they serve different functions. NerdWallet explains, "A franchising agreement pertains to a business’s entire brand and operations, while a licensing agreement only applies to registered trademarks."

Roughly, that means that a licensee will have greater control over how the business is run, while a franchisee has to adhere to the franchisor’s rules. But typically, the franchisee will also receive greater support (training and guidance) than someone who’s just purchased a license.

Often, the site notes, franchises work best for service-based businesses, while licenses are more conducive to product-based businesses. Anyone can make Starbucks coffee; you just need the coffee. But not everyone can run a Starbucks. Consider it the difference between making a product and putting a label on it (a la Basquiat imagery on Gap sweaters) versus opening, say, a Burger King and making sure it conforms to the company’s red-and-brown vibe.

On The Road Again

Considering The 300k Mile Tesla is into planning cross-country journeys, the chances are, this won’t be the only time he’s held up for a ransom-like price on something small. So, here’s hoping the rest of his coffees are always under $10.

Motor1 reached out to Starbucks via its press email. We'll update this if it responds.

Update Feb. 18: Via TikTok direct message, the 300k Mile Tesla told Motor1*, "Well I have 6 other TikTok accounts that deal with other topics, and since my car was approaching the 300k mile mark I thought of creating an account. I posted on Facebook several times (I'm in the Facebook Tesla High Mileage Club group) and always found people interested, asking me questions of how the car is handling it. What repairs I did etc...*

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"The fact that I was still on the Tesla original battery got people very interested, since most Tesla Owners worry of the dreadful day that their battery dies. So it was very encouraging for them to learn about me. I figured I could create a TikTok account just for fun. I really had no end goal in mind. Just a fun project. The feedback has been great," they added.

"It was actually very cool that I was able to document the battery swap at 321k miles. If it weren't for my Tiktok I would have never made videos about it. But because of Tiktok short video content , it was easy to just grab my phone and document the whole process. The errors, my reaction to learning that the battery was dying. My trip to California and the shop where it got replaced. The video that got the most views was the one where I explain that I need a new battery. 1.1M views. I think that's what got me the most followers. I don't know what the future of my channel is. I also created a YouTube channel in the hopes I could monetize eventually (I need 10k followers with Tiktok ) but for now it's just a fun project".

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