4 ms·

Flew to Orlando from PA. Drive time would be 15 hours. Flight time is 2.25 hours. Left for airport at 7:30 am arrived home 8:45 pm (Traffic and just getting the

by baldfat 11y ago

Flew to Orlando from PA. Drive time would be 15 hours. Flight time is 2.25 hours. Left for airport at 7:30 am arrived home 8:45 pm (Traffic and just getting there 1.5 hours early and a non-direct flight) I saved 3.5 hours, but cost me hundreds of dollars. I think self-driving cars will change the way we travel to things on land that are 16 hours of driving or less.

Retric 11y ago
It costs ~300$ to drive 1,000 miles. So, I don't think a few hundred is for a ticket is actually more expensive.
- bjelkeman-again 11y ago
  Where I live I can travel in a electric car for roughly 1/6 of the cost of petrol. Of course the calculation is more complicated than that, cost of the vehicle, service etc. My guess is that this will be competitive with this type of air travel.
- Shog9 11y ago
  Not for gas, not in the US right now, unless maybe you plan to travel in an old truck or some horribly inefficient sportscar. If you're factoring in wear and tear on your car, maybe... But highway driving isn't particularly hard on most vehicles either. The time invested is probably the most expensive part of driving, and that's where flying has been losing its lead for years.
  - Retric 11y ago
    There is a wide range of costs, but 30c/mile of highway driving is actually fairly cheap if you include everything. PS: "57.5 cents per mile for business miles driven, up from 56 cents in 2014" "The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile, including depreciation, insurance, repairs, tires, maintenance, gas and oil."
- mrfusion 11y ago
  What about a couple or a family though?
apercu 11y ago
See, that's the thing. These days you need to hurry up to get the to airport hours before your flight, then wait. Etc... I do this a lot flying to Ottawa. Leave at 6am, get home at 10:00pm. I'd consider driving if the car was autonomous.
leephillips 11y ago
But during most of that time you could read, work on a laptop, etc. Not so when driving.
- mrfusion 11y ago
  Just the two hours of flight time actually. Otherwise you're driving, waiting in line, walking, getting luggage, etc
apendleton 11y ago
Yeah, I think this gets especially fascinating if people don't own their own vehicles. Uber, etc., are pretty big now, but they're still employing people with regular off-the-shelf cars. I think eventually we could reach a tipping point where most people don't own their own vehicles and Uber, etc., get so large that it makes sense for them to start building/buying purpose-built vehicles that could be dispatched according to your particular task. Commuting solo? You get a super-fuel-efficient one-seater. Driving 16 hours? You get a car with a bed in it, and your trip will take place overnight. Go to sleep in PA, wake up in Orlando. And so forth.
peteretep 11y ago
That's an interesting point, and also seems to fit in to the supersonic jet narrative: people aren't willing to pay a (sufficient) premium to shave a few hours off a flight. In the same way, you might be willing to accept a couple of extra hours travel time to be in the comfort of your own vehicle.

by baldfat 11y ago

Retric 11y ago

It costs ~300$ to drive 1,000 miles. So, I don't think a few hundred is for a ticket is actually more expensive.

bjelkeman-again 11y ago
Where I live I can travel in a electric car for roughly 1/6 of the cost of petrol. Of course the calculation is more complicated than that, cost of the vehicle, service etc. My guess is that this will be competitive with this type of air travel.
Shog9 11y ago
Not for gas, not in the US right now, unless maybe you plan to travel in an old truck or some horribly inefficient sportscar. If you're factoring in wear and tear on your car, maybe... But highway driving isn't particularly hard on most vehicles either. The time invested is probably the most expensive part of driving, and that's where flying has been losing its lead for years.
- Retric 11y ago
  There is a wide range of costs, but 30c/mile of highway driving is actually fairly cheap if you include everything. PS: "57.5 cents per mile for business miles driven, up from 56 cents in 2014" "The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile, including depreciation, insurance, repairs, tires, maintenance, gas and oil."
mrfusion 11y ago
What about a couple or a family though?

apercu 11y ago

See, that's the thing. These days you need to hurry up to get the to airport hours before your flight, then wait. Etc... I do this a lot flying to Ottawa. Leave at 6am, get home at 10:00pm. I'd consider driving if the car was autonomous.

leephillips 11y ago

But during most of that time you could read, work on a laptop, etc. Not so when driving.

mrfusion 11y ago
Just the two hours of flight time actually. Otherwise you're driving, waiting in line, walking, getting luggage, etc

apendleton 11y ago

Yeah, I think this gets especially fascinating if people don't own their own vehicles. Uber, etc., are pretty big now, but they're still employing people with regular off-the-shelf cars. I think eventually we could reach a tipping point where most people don't own their own vehicles and Uber, etc., get so large that it makes sense for them to start building/buying purpose-built vehicles that could be dispatched according to your particular task. Commuting solo? You get a super-fuel-efficient one-seater. Driving 16 hours? You get a car with a bed in it, and your trip will take place overnight. Go to sleep in PA, wake up in Orlando. And so forth.

peteretep 11y ago

That's an interesting point, and also seems to fit in to the supersonic jet narrative: people aren't willing to pay a (sufficient) premium to shave a few hours off a flight. In the same way, you might be willing to accept a couple of extra hours travel time to be in the comfort of your own vehicle.