4 ms·

I don't think it will happen anytime soon. I can see autonomous car mode enabled in " controlled" environments like highways and advanced cities but there are a

by epx 9y ago

I don't think it will happen anytime soon. I can see autonomous car mode enabled in " controlled" environments like highways and advanced cities but there are a lot of countryside roads and trails where even cell phones don't work.

Theodores 9y ago
In the UK I don't imagine B roads or smaller being autonomous and the UK road structure is different to the US highways in many ways that make autonomous driving that bit harder. The bit I am seeing is private ownership of cars with a view to the batteries in the car partnering up with their solar panel and cheap overnight electricity. In this mode the car plays a really important role in evening out the peak power demands on the grid by selling electricity back at a higher rate than purchased overnight. Due to the culture of private ownership I see people getting electric plugs on the lamppost in their street, hooking up to that and buying their electric car on a favourable 5 year lease arrangement. It is very much the family vehicle with child-seats and whatnot permanently installed. These cars will be conventionally driven except on A roads and motorways when the car is allowed to drive. There will still be some expectation of the driver being at the wheel. There are trucks from all over Europe, until that guy from Turkey also has an electric, self-driving truck then the road is not going to be a fully automated zone, as proposed in the article. If you don't own an electric car then you won't be able to use it to even out the power demand at home, you would need a Tesla PowerWall or equivalent to store your solar and do that. I am not seeing people buy those things as quickly as they are buying iPhones. Most people don't even have decent insulation. The ownership of the car jumpstarts this transformation in how we use the electric grid and gets people involved in a way 'Uber' services will not.

by epx 9y ago

Theodores 9y ago

In the UK I don't imagine B roads or smaller being autonomous and the UK road structure is different to the US highways in many ways that make autonomous driving that bit harder. The bit I am seeing is private ownership of cars with a view to the batteries in the car partnering up with their solar panel and cheap overnight electricity. In this mode the car plays a really important role in evening out the peak power demands on the grid by selling electricity back at a higher rate than purchased overnight. Due to the culture of private ownership I see people getting electric plugs on the lamppost in their street, hooking up to that and buying their electric car on a favourable 5 year lease arrangement. It is very much the family vehicle with child-seats and whatnot permanently installed. These cars will be conventionally driven except on A roads and motorways when the car is allowed to drive. There will still be some expectation of the driver being at the wheel. There are trucks from all over Europe, until that guy from Turkey also has an electric, self-driving truck then the road is not going to be a fully automated zone, as proposed in the article. If you don't own an electric car then you won't be able to use it to even out the power demand at home, you would need a Tesla PowerWall or equivalent to store your solar and do that. I am not seeing people buy those things as quickly as they are buying iPhones. Most people don't even have decent insulation. The ownership of the car jumpstarts this transformation in how we use the electric grid and gets people involved in a way 'Uber' services will not.