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Few thoughts 1. Is anyone still buying car? May be it's a huge necessessity in US but most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and i

Few thoughts 1. Is anyone still buying car? May be it's a huge necessessity in US but most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving 2. Idea of self driving car will indeed be a big selling point. Still people will pool those and cost of transport in general will come down because of Uber's fleet. Self ownership will still not go up significantly unless idea is to buy for long distance travel (not city travel) 3. The rumors this could be beginning of Tesla being taken private by EM has merits, considering his recent spat with SEC

threeseed 7y ago
1. Yes. 2. Proper self driving cars are years away. Autopilot given the recent crashes are going to see some regulatory investigations and I suspect will be curtailed. Not that any of this is relevant since we have Uber today and not everyone is switching exclusively to it. 3. Tesla can't afford to go private.
gambiting 7y ago
>>1. Is anyone still buying car? May be it's a huge necessessity in US but most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving Is this like....a joke? I mean I get it - I used to live in a big city where owning a car just seemed stupid and wasteful. But once you live outside of the metropolis, where yes, there is public transport(in a form of a bus or two going every two hours), and you have kids and things to do, then yes, cars are still a necessity.
- base698 7y ago
  Even without kids, lots of hobbies require going to far away places with equipment. Lots of those places may not have Uber. Kids today just aren't imaginative anymore.
Solar19 7y ago
1. Yes, many millions of people are still buying cars. Some of us love cars. Real men drive, and drive well – they don't ride bikes or trolleys to work. Driving is an essential element of grown-up level autonomy and freedom of movement. 2. Most people won't share their cars like Musk's car sharing scheme envisions. Why would you want strangers driving your car at all hours, and putting miles and wear and tear on it? Autonomous cars are still not ready anyway. 3. Tesla can't go private for various reasons.
- p1necone 7y ago
  Downvoting because "real men drive". Come on, grow up.
HillaryBriss 7y ago
> most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times today noted that the number of riders on the Metropolitan Transit Authority lines has decreased recently. people in LA, despite very severe traffic, are still willing to take private vehicles when they can. as the article notes, one reason is that about 20% of riders (reporting in one survey) said they had been sexually harrassed while riding the MTA. "Metro is hemorrhaging riders. It needs to stop studying obvious fixes and start acting" - https://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-oe-berker-la-metro-bus-ridership-20190517-story.html https://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-oe-berker-la...
bdcravens 7y ago
> in US but most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving Cities like Houston are very much automobile cities. A large amount of the population lives in suburbs not well serviced (or serviced at all) by public transport, aside from park and rides to get into the city. I wouldn't call it good either - the commuter buses aren't bad, but the rail is scarce and feels very risky (https://abc13.com/travel/metro-promising-new-enforcement-tools-after-crime-jumps/5149788/ https://abc13.com/travel/metro-promising-new-enforcement-too...), and the city buses feel even sketchier. (I take the public transport into and out of Houston 3-5 times a week)
scarface74 7y ago
Is anyone still buying car? May be it's a huge necessessity in US but most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving Yes and people still watch TVs even if you haven’t owned one in 15 years.... But just a little googling. 80 million worldwide. https://www.statista.com/statistics/199974/us-car-sales-since-1951/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/199974/us-car-sales-sinc...

threeseed 7y ago

1. Yes. 2. Proper self driving cars are years away. Autopilot given the recent crashes are going to see some regulatory investigations and I suspect will be curtailed. Not that any of this is relevant since we have Uber today and not everyone is switching exclusively to it. 3. Tesla can't afford to go private.

gambiting 7y ago

>>1. Is anyone still buying car? May be it's a huge necessessity in US but most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving Is this like....a joke? I mean I get it - I used to live in a big city where owning a car just seemed stupid and wasteful. But once you live outside of the metropolis, where yes, there is public transport(in a form of a bus or two going every two hours), and you have kids and things to do, then yes, cars are still a necessity.

base698 7y ago
Even without kids, lots of hobbies require going to far away places with equipment. Lots of those places may not have Uber. Kids today just aren't imaginative anymore.

Solar19 7y ago

1. Yes, many millions of people are still buying cars. Some of us love cars. Real men drive, and drive well – they don't ride bikes or trolleys to work. Driving is an essential element of grown-up level autonomy and freedom of movement. 2. Most people won't share their cars like Musk's car sharing scheme envisions. Why would you want strangers driving your car at all hours, and putting miles and wear and tear on it? Autonomous cars are still not ready anyway. 3. Tesla can't go private for various reasons.

p1necone 7y ago
Downvoting because "real men drive". Come on, grow up.

HillaryBriss 7y ago

> most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times today noted that the number of riders on the Metropolitan Transit Authority lines has decreased recently. people in LA, despite very severe traffic, are still willing to take private vehicles when they can. as the article notes, one reason is that about 20% of riders (reporting in one survey) said they had been sexually harrassed while riding the MTA. "Metro is hemorrhaging riders. It needs to stop studying obvious fixes and start acting" - https://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-oe-berker-la-metro-bus-ridership-20190517-story.html https://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-oe-berker-la...

bdcravens 7y ago

> in US but most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving Cities like Houston are very much automobile cities. A large amount of the population lives in suburbs not well serviced (or serviced at all) by public transport, aside from park and rides to get into the city. I wouldn't call it good either - the commuter buses aren't bad, but the rail is scarce and feels very risky (https://abc13.com/travel/metro-promising-new-enforcement-tools-after-crime-jumps/5149788/ https://abc13.com/travel/metro-promising-new-enforcement-too...), and the city buses feel even sketchier. (I take the public transport into and out of Houston 3-5 times a week)

scarface74 7y ago

Is anyone still buying car? May be it's a huge necessessity in US but most of the cities are fairly packed and have good public transport and improving Yes and people still watch TVs even if you haven’t owned one in 15 years.... But just a little googling. 80 million worldwide. https://www.statista.com/statistics/199974/us-car-sales-since-1951/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/199974/us-car-sales-sinc...