8 ms·

I'm guessing it would impact airlines minimally. I'm in California and my family is in Illinois. Even the best route, speeding the whole way, it takes me twenty

I'm guessing it would impact airlines minimally. I'm in California and my family is in Illinois. Even the best route, speeding the whole way, it takes me twenty hours. Hell, just to go to San Diego from San Francisco is 7 hours minimum (took me 12 last Friday). People fly to save time, and if youre going to a hub city (I.e. Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, etc.) It will likely be cheaper to fly as well, I just booked a flight from San Francisco to Chicago for $148 (driving would easily be $250).

brianwawok 10y ago
To be fair not $250 in an electric car
- tlrobinson 10y ago
  Probably not if you factor in depreciation on an expensive self-driving electric car. Looks like SF to Chicago is at least 2000 miles. (Which also makes me wonder how you can do that trip in 20 hours. Speeding indeed :)
  - j2bax 10y ago
    I can only assume as autonomous travel increases and incidents decrease, the speed limit would increase. Obviously battery technology still has a ways to go to be able to last more than a couple hundred miles running 100 MPH+
    - falcolas 10y ago
      Speed limits depend more on the road (banking in corners, surface conditions, imperfections) and the car (what happens to the vehicle if an accident does happen) than the drivers, so I wouldn't expect major increases in speed limits.
      - true_religion 10y ago
        I doubt that or else you wouldn't see the same stretch, and grade of road get two different speed limits depending on what side of the state border that you are on. Additionally, on the intrastate highways, the speed limits are set by local districts so local districts who like making money will often change their speed limit for any highways that go near by them so they can speed trap people.
      - maxerickson 10y ago
        I dunno, In newer cars I have some sense of dislocation like I'm not really going as fast as the speedometer says.
  - lettergram 10y ago
    Clearly, I'm mistaken on the exact times. Last time I drove it took me four days, but I only drove 8 hours a day and took a long way around.
mszcz 10y ago
Well, how about you flyin' there and the car gets there all by itself the next morning so that you can drive around without renting one? Now that would be cool.
- Splines 10y ago
  I don't know if it makes sense to pay for both driving there and flying there. For some people, maybe. Would be interesting though - I can imagine a Mad Max-like future where roving bandits set traps for autonomous cars being sent on errands by the wealthy elite.
  - haser_au 10y ago
    Not sure what you're paying for in the electric car. Charging at the Tesla stations is free. If it can plug itself in to the charger, it's completely feasible to drive itself across the country.
    - MatthaeusHarris 10y ago
      Miles on the car. Given how the article states that the tires alone are good for 5k miles and cost $1600 to replace, that's 32 cents per mile just for the tires. If you're going somewhere far enough away that it's worth your money to fly instead of drive, it'll also be worth your money to rent a local car rather than have your Tesla drive to meet you. I am not a Tesla owner, so please correct me if I got the cost/mileage of the tires wrong.
      - zwily 10y ago
        That's true for the 21" wheels. The tires on the 19" wheels last much longer.
      - abc_lisper 10y ago
        > tires alone are good for 5k miles Are you sure about this? Tires usually last 30-60k miles.
j2bax 10y ago
If you are going from one non hub city to another non hub city, the overall air travel time goes up substantially (as well as the cost). It will still be a good deal faster than driving cross country, but if driving is relatively stress free and I can do it through the night, I'm going to be far more likely to skip the stressful lines, running between gates, delays and high prices of air travel. I don't think I'll be alone.
- Heliosmaster 10y ago
  So, like taking a coach bus? In Europe it is very common to do so.
  - maxerickson 10y ago
    In areas of the US with high population density, bus service is pretty okay (more or less the Northeast Corridor). The bus service from Houston to Miami is a little less okay, but it's because it's 1900 kM and won't have a lot of users (Google suggests public transport would take 34 hours, a train and a couple of buses).
Falcon9 10y ago
Air travel is per-person, vehicular travel becomes more attractive (price-wise) for families or larger groups.
- oska 10y ago
  Plus you have a car to use at your end destination (because you've brought it with you).
dougmany 10y ago
7 hours is a good night sleep. Combine self driving cars and coffin hotels and SF to LA would be enjoyable.
- tlrobinson 10y ago
  Sleepbus is exactly that (with the self-driving car replaced by a bus): http://www.sleepbus.co/ http://www.sleepbus.co/ Of course you have to pickup and dropoff at their location, and you don't have a car to use at your destination.
criddell 10y ago
> I'm guessing it would impact airlines minimally Maybe by itself, but when you factor in how awful air travel is getting, it might have a bigger impact than it otherwise would. I'm planning a flight from Austin to Chicago later this summer and I'm seriously considering driving because my last two experiences flying have been so awful thanks to the TSA.

brianwawok 10y ago

To be fair not $250 in an electric car

tlrobinson 10y ago
Probably not if you factor in depreciation on an expensive self-driving electric car. Looks like SF to Chicago is at least 2000 miles. (Which also makes me wonder how you can do that trip in 20 hours. Speeding indeed :)
- j2bax 10y ago
  I can only assume as autonomous travel increases and incidents decrease, the speed limit would increase. Obviously battery technology still has a ways to go to be able to last more than a couple hundred miles running 100 MPH+
  - falcolas 10y ago
    Speed limits depend more on the road (banking in corners, surface conditions, imperfections) and the car (what happens to the vehicle if an accident does happen) than the drivers, so I wouldn't expect major increases in speed limits.
    - true_religion 10y ago
      I doubt that or else you wouldn't see the same stretch, and grade of road get two different speed limits depending on what side of the state border that you are on. Additionally, on the intrastate highways, the speed limits are set by local districts so local districts who like making money will often change their speed limit for any highways that go near by them so they can speed trap people.
    - maxerickson 10y ago
      I dunno, In newer cars I have some sense of dislocation like I'm not really going as fast as the speedometer says.
- lettergram 10y ago
  Clearly, I'm mistaken on the exact times. Last time I drove it took me four days, but I only drove 8 hours a day and took a long way around.

mszcz 10y ago

Well, how about you flyin' there and the car gets there all by itself the next morning so that you can drive around without renting one? Now that would be cool.

Splines 10y ago
I don't know if it makes sense to pay for both driving there and flying there. For some people, maybe. Would be interesting though - I can imagine a Mad Max-like future where roving bandits set traps for autonomous cars being sent on errands by the wealthy elite.
- haser_au 10y ago
  Not sure what you're paying for in the electric car. Charging at the Tesla stations is free. If it can plug itself in to the charger, it's completely feasible to drive itself across the country.
  - MatthaeusHarris 10y ago
    Miles on the car. Given how the article states that the tires alone are good for 5k miles and cost $1600 to replace, that's 32 cents per mile just for the tires. If you're going somewhere far enough away that it's worth your money to fly instead of drive, it'll also be worth your money to rent a local car rather than have your Tesla drive to meet you. I am not a Tesla owner, so please correct me if I got the cost/mileage of the tires wrong.
    - zwily 10y ago
      That's true for the 21" wheels. The tires on the 19" wheels last much longer.
    - abc_lisper 10y ago
      > tires alone are good for 5k miles Are you sure about this? Tires usually last 30-60k miles.

j2bax 10y ago

If you are going from one non hub city to another non hub city, the overall air travel time goes up substantially (as well as the cost). It will still be a good deal faster than driving cross country, but if driving is relatively stress free and I can do it through the night, I'm going to be far more likely to skip the stressful lines, running between gates, delays and high prices of air travel. I don't think I'll be alone.

Heliosmaster 10y ago
So, like taking a coach bus? In Europe it is very common to do so.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  In areas of the US with high population density, bus service is pretty okay (more or less the Northeast Corridor). The bus service from Houston to Miami is a little less okay, but it's because it's 1900 kM and won't have a lot of users (Google suggests public transport would take 34 hours, a train and a couple of buses).

Falcon9 10y ago

Air travel is per-person, vehicular travel becomes more attractive (price-wise) for families or larger groups.

oska 10y ago
Plus you have a car to use at your end destination (because you've brought it with you).

dougmany 10y ago

7 hours is a good night sleep. Combine self driving cars and coffin hotels and SF to LA would be enjoyable.

tlrobinson 10y ago
Sleepbus is exactly that (with the self-driving car replaced by a bus): http://www.sleepbus.co/ http://www.sleepbus.co/ Of course you have to pickup and dropoff at their location, and you don't have a car to use at your destination.

criddell 10y ago

> I'm guessing it would impact airlines minimally Maybe by itself, but when you factor in how awful air travel is getting, it might have a bigger impact than it otherwise would. I'm planning a flight from Austin to Chicago later this summer and I'm seriously considering driving because my last two experiences flying have been so awful thanks to the TSA.