4 ms·

I see where the author is coming from, but uber doesn't need to own the autonomous vehicles. They can still be owned by third parties who maintain them. The own

by jbob2000 11y ago

I see where the author is coming from, but uber doesn't need to own the autonomous vehicles. They can still be owned by third parties who maintain them. The owner just "recalls" the vehicle when he needs it,

organsnyder 11y ago
Exactly. Anyone who owns an autonomous vehicle will be able to offer it to Uber for their use. The only difference is that they won't need to also drive the vehicle. The point about outsourcing vehicle ownership to the drivers is a valid criticism of Uber, but self-driving cars doesn't really need to play into that equation.
- maxerickson 11y ago
  With any luck, there will be more than one marketplace for buying and selling vehicle miles.
pinkrooftop 11y ago
As a former part time uber driver, the challenge is convincing people to send your car out to uber alone. Even with me in the car, at a minimum passengers would leave trash or gum.
- intopieces 11y ago
  >at a minimum passengers would leave trash or gum. Doesn't the review system handle this? Goes back to one of the other points the article makes: this system depends upon your personal information being available to uber as well as the ability to 'blacklist' bad users.
  - pinkrooftop 11y ago
    one complication to that is groups of passengers, where only one person's info is available
- ghaff 11y ago
  Funnily enough, this comes back to "ride sharing" which Uber etc. supposedly were in the first place. I'm skeptical that this would become a thing--or at least mainstream. But I suspect that we're talking enough years out that so many things will be different that predictions are tough.
jameshart 11y ago
Yes, the option of having your autonomous vehicle go off and work as an uber driver while you're at work is a point in favor of Uber continuing as a broker, and keeping out of the fleet management/capital investment business. Which makes it confusing that Uber has made noises about wanting to buy self-driving Teslas in the past...
intopieces 11y ago
>They can still be owned by third parties who maintain them. Exactly. See: Hertz's partnership with Lyft. They've anticipated this already. Whenever the car is not needed, it's sitting on a Hertz lot ready to be rented as a private vehicle.
prawn 11y ago
Exactly. There will be sales pitches when fully autonomous cars are available to buy: pay $xk up front, but lease the car to a fleet for $y/month to recoup some of your investment. Uber might require owners to maintain and clean the cars in order to qualify, saving themselves the cost. It's not dissimilar to the way people throw their houses into the pool of accommodation that is Airbnb or VRBO, etc.

organsnyder 11y ago

Exactly. Anyone who owns an autonomous vehicle will be able to offer it to Uber for their use. The only difference is that they won't need to also drive the vehicle. The point about outsourcing vehicle ownership to the drivers is a valid criticism of Uber, but self-driving cars doesn't really need to play into that equation.

maxerickson 11y ago
With any luck, there will be more than one marketplace for buying and selling vehicle miles.

pinkrooftop 11y ago

As a former part time uber driver, the challenge is convincing people to send your car out to uber alone. Even with me in the car, at a minimum passengers would leave trash or gum.

intopieces 11y ago
>at a minimum passengers would leave trash or gum. Doesn't the review system handle this? Goes back to one of the other points the article makes: this system depends upon your personal information being available to uber as well as the ability to 'blacklist' bad users.
- pinkrooftop 11y ago
  one complication to that is groups of passengers, where only one person's info is available
ghaff 11y ago
Funnily enough, this comes back to "ride sharing" which Uber etc. supposedly were in the first place. I'm skeptical that this would become a thing--or at least mainstream. But I suspect that we're talking enough years out that so many things will be different that predictions are tough.

jameshart 11y ago

Yes, the option of having your autonomous vehicle go off and work as an uber driver while you're at work is a point in favor of Uber continuing as a broker, and keeping out of the fleet management/capital investment business. Which makes it confusing that Uber has made noises about wanting to buy self-driving Teslas in the past...

intopieces 11y ago

>They can still be owned by third parties who maintain them. Exactly. See: Hertz's partnership with Lyft. They've anticipated this already. Whenever the car is not needed, it's sitting on a Hertz lot ready to be rented as a private vehicle.

prawn 11y ago

Exactly. There will be sales pitches when fully autonomous cars are available to buy: pay $xk up front, but lease the car to a fleet for $y/month to recoup some of your investment. Uber might require owners to maintain and clean the cars in order to qualify, saving themselves the cost. It's not dissimilar to the way people throw their houses into the pool of accommodation that is Airbnb or VRBO, etc.