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"Serious counter question; Why is nobody talking about cost? Cars are very expensive... is self-driving tech going to increase or decrease the cost of a vehicle

"Serious counter question; Why is nobody talking about cost? Cars are very expensive... is self-driving tech going to increase or decrease the cost of a vehicle? Do people generally want more freedom or less freedom choice?" Because you don't need to own the car - you could feasibly rent one on demand (like a taxi), since you can now rent a car without the necessary wage overhead of the taxi driver, or the minimum costs of car-rental (i.e. car rental typically is per-day, for logistical reasons) or the logistical problems of car-rental (i.e. you need to drive to and from the car-rental place, to pick up and drop off the car - and by "drive" I mean "get a lift or use public transport"). Plus, the self-driving stuff shouldn't be particularly expensive, and will be counterbalanced by lower insurance premiums, and likely tax incentives once voters realise that they really do save lives. "Why does everyone assume the cost will decrease with scale? How many people can afford a Tesla right now? Let alone a fully autonomous car?" Because just about everything decreases with scale, and it's not inherently hard tech. Tesla's main problem is their lack of scale. As are autonomous cars. "Why does everyone assume that most people want to share a vehicle?" Money. It's not "want", it's "can tolerate so as to save money". Your car, when adding together all the costs (purchase, fuel, rego, maintenance, interest payments if you borrow instead of buying outright) is one of the biggest expenses that most people have. Sharing a car between several people should decrease the costs by an order of magnitude, which could be used to buy whatever people spend their money on these days, or saved.

monkmartinez 10y ago
I live in the suburbs. I have a family with two grade school kids that participate in seasonal team sports and year-round gymnastics. They attend a charter school with no school bus system. Let's say each ride cost $10... that is $20 to $40 per day just for the kids on most weekdays. Add in birthday parties, saturday games, doctor/dentist, trip to grandma/grandpa that live 7 miles away... and we are talking $1000 per month in "ride-sharing costs" for my children alone. We could add in my wife and I's costs, but it would be silly. Maybe this service is less than $10 per ride, even at $5 per ride it is wayyyyyy more expensive than I currently spend on a 4 year old Toyota Highlander with low miles with insurance and fuel.
- self-diversity 10y ago
  Your lifestyle is being subsidized by the negative externalities your transportation causes that you don't pay for, so it's not a great argument against advancing technology, because your comfort only matters to you.
- thereisnospork 10y ago
  Who says you need to be the rider, and not the car owner? You could be making that $10 a ride renting your Toyota Highlander to other suburbanites when your kid's sports aren't in season? Or when you're on vacation, or at work for an 8 hour chunk? To say nothing of the convenience of a car that can drop off/pick up the little one from soccer practice on its own if you have a scheduling conflict.
  - monkmartinez 10y ago
    Just tons of drone cars picking up kids and delivering them to their parents. Owners of said cars collecting monthly AirBnB style rent from the people that can suddenly no longer afford a $3000 beater to get them around, but will happily pay $10 a ride in a self driving car. Oh yeah, don't forget about the vomit and drinks spilled all over the place in your ride share. Also sick people touching all the things. Where do I sign up? </sarcasm>
  - nradov 10y ago
    This type of naive suggestion totally ignores the way that most middle-class American families actually use their cars not just as transportation but for storage and as a mobile base of operations. Please explain how I'm supposed to let others use my car as a short-term rental during the day while it's full of child seats, snacks, extra clothes, sports equipment, etc. Plus I don't want random people coughing / eating / having sex / using drugs in my nice clean cars. Outside of maybe a few affluent urban areas populated largely by young childless people it's just a silly unrealistic idea.
    - thereisnospork 10y ago
      If you'd think instead of being naively condescending: a.) Snacks and supplies in trunk - lockable containers inside. All could be accessible via app/key fob only. b.) Who says the suburbanite your renting to won't want to use a car seat? c.) Camera, ID, cleaning deposits, car self-drives to detailer on your lunch break. $1,000 a month is a heck of a carrot to keep a car clean - even if that's not for you is your worldview really so small that you cannot imagine it being for someone not all that dissimilar from you?

monkmartinez 10y ago

I live in the suburbs. I have a family with two grade school kids that participate in seasonal team sports and year-round gymnastics. They attend a charter school with no school bus system. Let's say each ride cost $10... that is $20 to $40 per day just for the kids on most weekdays. Add in birthday parties, saturday games, doctor/dentist, trip to grandma/grandpa that live 7 miles away... and we are talking $1000 per month in "ride-sharing costs" for my children alone. We could add in my wife and I's costs, but it would be silly. Maybe this service is less than $10 per ride, even at $5 per ride it is wayyyyyy more expensive than I currently spend on a 4 year old Toyota Highlander with low miles with insurance and fuel.

self-diversity 10y ago
Your lifestyle is being subsidized by the negative externalities your transportation causes that you don't pay for, so it's not a great argument against advancing technology, because your comfort only matters to you.
thereisnospork 10y ago
Who says you need to be the rider, and not the car owner? You could be making that $10 a ride renting your Toyota Highlander to other suburbanites when your kid's sports aren't in season? Or when you're on vacation, or at work for an 8 hour chunk? To say nothing of the convenience of a car that can drop off/pick up the little one from soccer practice on its own if you have a scheduling conflict.
- monkmartinez 10y ago
  Just tons of drone cars picking up kids and delivering them to their parents. Owners of said cars collecting monthly AirBnB style rent from the people that can suddenly no longer afford a $3000 beater to get them around, but will happily pay $10 a ride in a self driving car. Oh yeah, don't forget about the vomit and drinks spilled all over the place in your ride share. Also sick people touching all the things. Where do I sign up? </sarcasm>
- nradov 10y ago
  This type of naive suggestion totally ignores the way that most middle-class American families actually use their cars not just as transportation but for storage and as a mobile base of operations. Please explain how I'm supposed to let others use my car as a short-term rental during the day while it's full of child seats, snacks, extra clothes, sports equipment, etc. Plus I don't want random people coughing / eating / having sex / using drugs in my nice clean cars. Outside of maybe a few affluent urban areas populated largely by young childless people it's just a silly unrealistic idea.
  - thereisnospork 10y ago
    If you'd think instead of being naively condescending: a.) Snacks and supplies in trunk - lockable containers inside. All could be accessible via app/key fob only. b.) Who says the suburbanite your renting to won't want to use a car seat? c.) Camera, ID, cleaning deposits, car self-drives to detailer on your lunch break. $1,000 a month is a heck of a carrot to keep a car clean - even if that's not for you is your worldview really so small that you cannot imagine it being for someone not all that dissimilar from you?