I'm with you on this. I have rented cars to try them out, and advocate the practice. But that represents more friction than a test drive, and buying/returning represents more friction than renting.

This is Hacker News. We all are supposed to understand that friction reduces the market for a product that carries uncertainty in the mind of its market.

It's not a dichotomy, it's not like zero people will buy a Tesla without a local test drive, but it is a certainty that _fewer_ people will do so.

The question is, "how many fewer?"