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What is a better situation: having a polluting factory making polluting cars or having a polluting factory making eco-friendly cars? Maybe if the automotive in

by sweden 10y ago

What is a better situation: having a polluting factory making polluting cars or having a polluting factory making eco-friendly cars? Maybe if the automotive industry had made this step a long ago, we could have been buying old but eco-friendly electric cars right now instead of buying gas/petrol cars. On another perspective, Tesla is also heavily investing in self-driving technology. So we could even stop buying cars and start using a fleet of unmanned self-driving cars which are also friendly to the environment.

tombone12 10y ago
Buying an 8 year old car means buying a used car, no? In that case you are comparing the polluting factory to no factory at all. Fleets of self driving cars are called public transport or taxis (depends on your preference), and have been around for a while. The environmental benefit of exchanging the bus driver with a more efficient steering method is probably offset by the idea that the inefficiencies of cars compared to buses for mass transit. Probably a net win for taxis though, but nothing revolutionary.
- sweden 10y ago
  But a 8 year old car nowadays means a polluting car, not an electric one. I don't see fleets of self driving cars being the same as public transportation or as taxis, I view them as something between private transportation and public transportation, an enhanced version of the we nowadays call car pooling. A self driving vehicle can be a private one but at the same time, it could be also used to provide rides to other people other than the owner. For example: I am imagining that it would make it easier for companies and work places to arrange an efficient transportation to their employees without relying on the local governments or in public transportation agencies. But I admit that expecting this to be revolutionary and game changing for the environment might be a bit of a stretch.

by sweden 10y ago

tombone12 10y ago

Buying an 8 year old car means buying a used car, no? In that case you are comparing the polluting factory to no factory at all. Fleets of self driving cars are called public transport or taxis (depends on your preference), and have been around for a while. The environmental benefit of exchanging the bus driver with a more efficient steering method is probably offset by the idea that the inefficiencies of cars compared to buses for mass transit. Probably a net win for taxis though, but nothing revolutionary.

sweden 10y ago
But a 8 year old car nowadays means a polluting car, not an electric one. I don't see fleets of self driving cars being the same as public transportation or as taxis, I view them as something between private transportation and public transportation, an enhanced version of the we nowadays call car pooling. A self driving vehicle can be a private one but at the same time, it could be also used to provide rides to other people other than the owner. For example: I am imagining that it would make it easier for companies and work places to arrange an efficient transportation to their employees without relying on the local governments or in public transportation agencies. But I admit that expecting this to be revolutionary and game changing for the environment might be a bit of a stretch.