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I think people are missing the strategic importance here. Tesla is going to be in the game of self driving cars. Once self driving cars happens, there is no lon

I think people are missing the strategic importance here. Tesla is going to be in the game of self driving cars. Once self driving cars happens, there is no longer going to be anyone who buys cars, they will simply hail a ride using the self-driving Telsa(Uber, Lift, Google) network. Soul-Crushing-Traffic is going to be optimized heavily, using certain algorithms and the inter connectivity of the cars. However, one HUGE advantage that Tesla cars are going to be able to have are these tunnels. I think this is of huge strategic importance, because they can reduce the cost for transportation across cities, because they don't have to deal with all the traffic. As discussed in plenty of places on hackernews, ride-hailing is going to be a commodity similar to the airline or ocean transport industry. It will be solely based on cost. If Tesla can make the cars at cost, owns the self-driving tech, are all electric with a huge network of free fuel, and have tunnels that allow you to bypass traffic then they will own the future transportation industry, while everyone else tries to catch up.

simonh 9y ago
I don't see how the tunnels can be commercially viable just carrying Teslas. That's a tiny fraction of traffic. Apart from anything else I can't see cities granting permits for exclusive tunnel systems like that, which don't benefit the broader public.
- stevewilhelm 9y ago
  > cities granting permits for exclusive tunnel systems The Internet cable in a very narrow tunnel under the public street in front of my house is owned by a private company.
- lorenzorhoades 9y ago
  I think you missed the first point I made. Tesla will be THE biggest ride-sharing service once it gets to scale with self-driving cars. Why would you buy a car in a large city if it'll be 2.50 to get to work in a self driving, all electric car? In California there are toll roads all over the place. How are the tunnels different from a normal toll freeway? Tesla could allow use of the tunnels for a fee. This fee will be the deciding factor between whether I take uber, google, lift or tesla. I am going to take whatever offer is cheaper. I'm suprised there isn't an app out there yet that lets you compare prices for your destination through various ride hailing services, but i'm sure there will be one in the future.

simonh 9y ago

I don't see how the tunnels can be commercially viable just carrying Teslas. That's a tiny fraction of traffic. Apart from anything else I can't see cities granting permits for exclusive tunnel systems like that, which don't benefit the broader public.

stevewilhelm 9y ago
> cities granting permits for exclusive tunnel systems The Internet cable in a very narrow tunnel under the public street in front of my house is owned by a private company.
lorenzorhoades 9y ago
I think you missed the first point I made. Tesla will be THE biggest ride-sharing service once it gets to scale with self-driving cars. Why would you buy a car in a large city if it'll be 2.50 to get to work in a self driving, all electric car? In California there are toll roads all over the place. How are the tunnels different from a normal toll freeway? Tesla could allow use of the tunnels for a fee. This fee will be the deciding factor between whether I take uber, google, lift or tesla. I am going to take whatever offer is cheaper. I'm suprised there isn't an app out there yet that lets you compare prices for your destination through various ride hailing services, but i'm sure there will be one in the future.