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I think that market is smaller than you may think. There are lots of factors that will drive people to own their own self-driving cars rather than rely exclusi

I think that market is smaller than you may think. There are lots of factors that will drive people to own their own self-driving cars rather than rely exclusively on Uber/Lyft/Tesla Mobility, etc.

dinkumthinkum 10y ago
You mean parents won't want to constantly move their car seats from vehicle to another on a regular basis?
- secabeen 10y ago
  Yeah, that's one big one. It's really anyone with a dependent that has equipment needs (car seats, hockey gear, etc.) "But, but, you can rent a car with a car seat!" That response ignores the fact that there are 4 different major categories of car seats, most kids need a specific one at different times of their lives, and if you have multiple kids you need the specific combination of seats. And of course, car seat installation is hard and takes time, even with LATCH, and I wouldn't trust a random Uber driver just handed a seat to install it properly.
  - BurningFrog 10y ago
    A car seat that can be adjusted into different sizes sounds like a minor part of the R&D needed for Ubertopia.
    - dinkumthinkum 10y ago
      Nah ... Ever met a parent before? Many of them are pretty serious about their car seats and brands.
- TheCoelacanth 10y ago
  So buy one car for the 10 years in your life where you have kids that need cars seats and then rent for the other 50 years of your adult life. It wouldn't need to cover literally every use case in the world to have a major impact on the economy.
kmonsen 10y ago
Cleaning is one factor I think. If you have a pet or kids you don't want to risk destroying someone elses car, but you know your own car will slowly look worse.
ghaff 10y ago
In addition to what others have mentioned, there's also the mobile storage locker aspect. When traveling for example, there are any number of occasions when I will end up renting a car rather than using other transportation because it means I don't have to always be carrying with me all my stuff for a whole set of activities. It happens at home as well. I don't need to bring a bag for evening activities into work because I can just leave it in my car. And I don't need to bring my computer bag to an evening activity for the same reason. Sure, all this stuff can be worked around when it has to be but there a lot of advantages to having a mobile vehicle you don't have to empty every time you arrive at a destination.
- emmanuel_1234 10y ago
  That's definitely a habit you've formed, that you can grow out of. Given no choice, you'd quickly figure out optimized way to do the same things without a personal car. Given proper public transportation, I did. Not owning a car is not only a lot cheaper, it's also quite liberating: - I don't fear I'll wreck it, or worse, I'll badly injure someone in a car accident - I don't have to drive and be angry about other people on the road, like a lot of drivers - I'm not owned by my car, that requires maintenance and cost beyond just running it. - Not fighting for parking spots!

I think that market is smaller than you may think. There are lots of factors that will drive people to own their own self-driving cars rather than rely exclusively on Uber/Lyft/Tesla Mobility, etc.

dinkumthinkum 10y ago

You mean parents won't want to constantly move their car seats from vehicle to another on a regular basis?

secabeen 10y ago
Yeah, that's one big one. It's really anyone with a dependent that has equipment needs (car seats, hockey gear, etc.) "But, but, you can rent a car with a car seat!" That response ignores the fact that there are 4 different major categories of car seats, most kids need a specific one at different times of their lives, and if you have multiple kids you need the specific combination of seats. And of course, car seat installation is hard and takes time, even with LATCH, and I wouldn't trust a random Uber driver just handed a seat to install it properly.
- BurningFrog 10y ago
  A car seat that can be adjusted into different sizes sounds like a minor part of the R&D needed for Ubertopia.
  - dinkumthinkum 10y ago
    Nah ... Ever met a parent before? Many of them are pretty serious about their car seats and brands.
TheCoelacanth 10y ago
So buy one car for the 10 years in your life where you have kids that need cars seats and then rent for the other 50 years of your adult life. It wouldn't need to cover literally every use case in the world to have a major impact on the economy.

kmonsen 10y ago

Cleaning is one factor I think. If you have a pet or kids you don't want to risk destroying someone elses car, but you know your own car will slowly look worse.

ghaff 10y ago

In addition to what others have mentioned, there's also the mobile storage locker aspect. When traveling for example, there are any number of occasions when I will end up renting a car rather than using other transportation because it means I don't have to always be carrying with me all my stuff for a whole set of activities. It happens at home as well. I don't need to bring a bag for evening activities into work because I can just leave it in my car. And I don't need to bring my computer bag to an evening activity for the same reason. Sure, all this stuff can be worked around when it has to be but there a lot of advantages to having a mobile vehicle you don't have to empty every time you arrive at a destination.

emmanuel_1234 10y ago
That's definitely a habit you've formed, that you can grow out of. Given no choice, you'd quickly figure out optimized way to do the same things without a personal car. Given proper public transportation, I did. Not owning a car is not only a lot cheaper, it's also quite liberating: - I don't fear I'll wreck it, or worse, I'll badly injure someone in a car accident - I don't have to drive and be angry about other people on the road, like a lot of drivers - I'm not owned by my car, that requires maintenance and cost beyond just running it. - Not fighting for parking spots!