5 ms·

I would bet that owning your own car is going to be very marginal, and human-driven cars will eventually become illegal to drive on public roads.

aninhumer 11y ago
> owning your own car is going to be very marginal I think there are actually quite a few advantages. Persistent storage space. Interior customisation. Instant availability in less popular areas. > human-driven cars will eventually become illegal to drive on public roads. Certainly, but that's a separate issue to vehicle ownership.
protomyth 11y ago
> I would bet that owning your own car is going to be very marginal Given how much of the country is rural, I doubt that. > human-driven cars will eventually become illegal to drive on public roads. I really doubt that one since we haven't seen large scale testing of driverless cars in adverse conditions.
prostoalex 11y ago
Why? One can rent/lease a car on a month-to-month basis nowadays, yet when you crunch the numbers for continuous use, ownership makes sense. A rental has a certain set of expectations on maintenance and cleanliness, and maintaining those expectations come at a higher price, whereas most people are not strictly adhering to manufacturer's maintenance schedules and don't wash/vacuum their cars on the daily basis. As one moves away from urban centers, the cost of getting the car to them as well as getting it back to the owner from them is becoming higher, and whoever is in charge of those rentals has to incorporate those costs into the final price, which might or might not be competitive with outright ownership.
- pmichaud 11y ago
  I'm not modeling the future as car rentals, I'm modeling the future as driverless uber--on-demand transport from A-to-B. Fleets of cars in constant rotation. But you're right, rural areas are clearly harder to make that model work.

5 ms·

I would bet that owning your own car is going to be very marginal, and human-driven cars will eventually become illegal to drive on public roads.

by pmichaud 11y ago

aninhumer 11y ago
> owning your own car is going to be very marginal I think there are actually quite a few advantages. Persistent storage space. Interior customisation. Instant availability in less popular areas. > human-driven cars will eventually become illegal to drive on public roads. Certainly, but that's a separate issue to vehicle ownership.
protomyth 11y ago
> I would bet that owning your own car is going to be very marginal Given how much of the country is rural, I doubt that. > human-driven cars will eventually become illegal to drive on public roads. I really doubt that one since we haven't seen large scale testing of driverless cars in adverse conditions.
prostoalex 11y ago
Why? One can rent/lease a car on a month-to-month basis nowadays, yet when you crunch the numbers for continuous use, ownership makes sense. A rental has a certain set of expectations on maintenance and cleanliness, and maintaining those expectations come at a higher price, whereas most people are not strictly adhering to manufacturer's maintenance schedules and don't wash/vacuum their cars on the daily basis. As one moves away from urban centers, the cost of getting the car to them as well as getting it back to the owner from them is becoming higher, and whoever is in charge of those rentals has to incorporate those costs into the final price, which might or might not be competitive with outright ownership.
- pmichaud 11y ago
  I'm not modeling the future as car rentals, I'm modeling the future as driverless uber--on-demand transport from A-to-B. Fleets of cars in constant rotation. But you're right, rural areas are clearly harder to make that model work.