5 ms·

The concept has just one niche I can see (besides people who are scared of flying)... getting into downtown SF before 8am without the chance of your flight bein

by jmpman 7y ago

The concept has just one niche I can see (besides people who are scared of flying)... getting into downtown SF before 8am without the chance of your flight being delayed due to fog. If you absolutely need to be at a meeting at 8am, currently you’re flying in the night before, grabbing an Uber from SFO to a hotel generally close to your morning meeting, hoping you’ll get a good night sleep and then dealing with the morning commute. You’re paying at least $300 in addition to the flight. Of course the above scenario is just the tip of why I’m so excited about self driving RVs. Hop in at 8pm in your home town, work, watch TV until you’re ready to go to bed, wake up at your normal 6am, shower, get dressed, and step outside in front of the office at 7:45am. The RV departs, maybe driving itself “home”, while you work. At the end of the day, catch an Uber to the airport for a quick flight home... to be met at the airport by your RV, which whisks you home. You’re gone for under 24 hours from home, and were able to put in an 8+ hour day. Or, you take the RV all the way home, arriving at home by 8am. I’d buy one in a heartbeat if the price was around $0.20/mile. I might even consider using such an RV during a week long trip to the bay - using the RV as my hotel... having it drive out to Tracy each evening and parking in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Which in a strange way will alleviate Bay Area housing shortage - when you’re living in an RV, do you care how far away it’s parked from work if it’s self driving?

ummwhat 7y ago
The thing that kills this niche is booking a sleeper car ticket on the capitol corridor. Amtrak does all this but better. Train is quieter, there's a full dining car with meals cooked in a legit kitchen, more space to walk around, fantastic view in the observation car. Only thing they don't do right is advertising. Did you know the sleeper car comes with 3 meals a day? I didn't. On reflection the other issue is that it doesn't go direct into downtown. But you can transfer to BART at Richmond so same same.
- AndyMcConachie 7y ago
  I love taking Amtrak, but my god the food is terrible.
  - bb101 7y ago
    I found the food on the Amtrak Coastal Starlight (Seattle-LA) better than expected, and their wines were much better than I expected (comparable to Asian airlines' wines in business class). A pleasant journey all round really.
  - ummwhat 7y ago
    I took the California Zephyr all the way to Chicago and then continued my rail trip on to New York. While the dining experience differs depending on the route, I can tell you first hand that on my way to Chicago I was slamming back steak and clams. Couldn't believe it was included in the ticket. And also complimentary coffee. They don't tell you this, but the sleeper ticket is actually first class. I initially thought I was being gouged for the privilege of not trying to sleep in a chair.
    - exabrial 7y ago
      Even the chairs in "coach class" beat Delta first class on a 737 by a few orders of magnitude.
- marcinzm 7y ago
  The capitol corridor goes to Sacramento and not LA. The Amtrak from SF (well Oakland) to LA leaves at 9am and arrives at 9pm. The one coming back leaves at 10am and arrives at 10pm. Hardly convenient timing and 4 hours slower than the bus (and that's without even counting the BART time to get into SF itself).
gambiting 7y ago
>>having it drive out to Tracy each evening and parking in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Do American supermarkets not have any time limits on parking? In the UK every single supermarket will have a 2-3 hour time limit on parking with anywhere between £70-100 fine for parking there for longer.
- skunkworker 7y ago
  Wal-Mart has allowed for overnight parking for quite awhile. It's even in their corporate Q&A[1] Q: Can I park my RV at a Walmart store? A: While we do not offer electrical service or accommodations typically necessary for RV customers, Walmart values RV travelers and considers them among our best customers. Consequently, we do permit RV parking on our store parking lots as we are able. Permission to park is extended by individual store managers, based on availability of parking space and local laws. Please contact management in each store to ensure accommodations before parking your RV. [1] https://corporate.walmart.com/frequently-asked-questions https://corporate.walmart.com/frequently-asked-questions
  - protomyth 7y ago
    Several stores in North Dakota have banned the practice because of abuse and other problems.
    - wavefunction 7y ago
      Due to oil fields and lack of housing I imagine.
- randallsquared 7y ago
  It's not American supermarkets in general, but specifically Wal-Mart. Most Wal-Mart stores allow RV parking overnight. I would expect that UK supermarkets have only scarce parking, but Wal-Mart away from city centers typically has so much parking space that the lot is literally never full. For example: https://goo.gl/maps/PqQR9BD3Kshs4vvZ9 https://goo.gl/maps/PqQR9BD3Kshs4vvZ9 https://goo.gl/maps/B6ai1vRxJg5B63vr7 https://goo.gl/maps/B6ai1vRxJg5B63vr7 https://goo.gl/maps/DPCpegpGedKgy9TC9 https://goo.gl/maps/DPCpegpGedKgy9TC9
i_am_proteus 7y ago
$0.20 a mile in an RV? Fuel alone will be more than that.
- jmpman 7y ago
  Electric is the only way to get down to those operating costs. So your electric RV would need to supercharge by itself on the trip. $0.20/mile is 2.5kwh/mi at $0.08/kWh... seems possible.
TheDong 7y ago
> Which in a strange way will alleviate Bay Area housing shortage - when you’re living in an RV, do you care how far away it’s parked from work if it’s self driving? I can't wait to park my RV 30 miles away from work, go to sleep, and be woken up at 4am due to jostling and rush-hour noise as a fleet of hundreds of RVs all try to self-drive themselves into the city. I can't wait to use one of the least fuel-efficient vehicles possible, and make it even worse by having it drive itself around constantly to meet me at my office (since there's nowhere for it to park inside the city). It's okay, climate change will only be killing the people who can't afford their own personal RV.
- jmpman 7y ago
  That or living in a $2000/month studio apartment in the Tenderloin? I’d take the self driving RV. If it’s electric, charged by renewable energy, is it really that bad for the environment?
pontifier 7y ago
Autonomous RVs will change everything. I'll definitely be buying one when they are available. I like RVs but they are a challenge to drive. Take that downside away, and you have my ideal travel situation.

by jmpman 7y ago

ummwhat 7y ago

The thing that kills this niche is booking a sleeper car ticket on the capitol corridor. Amtrak does all this but better. Train is quieter, there's a full dining car with meals cooked in a legit kitchen, more space to walk around, fantastic view in the observation car. Only thing they don't do right is advertising. Did you know the sleeper car comes with 3 meals a day? I didn't. On reflection the other issue is that it doesn't go direct into downtown. But you can transfer to BART at Richmond so same same.

AndyMcConachie 7y ago
I love taking Amtrak, but my god the food is terrible.
- bb101 7y ago
  I found the food on the Amtrak Coastal Starlight (Seattle-LA) better than expected, and their wines were much better than I expected (comparable to Asian airlines' wines in business class). A pleasant journey all round really.
- ummwhat 7y ago
  I took the California Zephyr all the way to Chicago and then continued my rail trip on to New York. While the dining experience differs depending on the route, I can tell you first hand that on my way to Chicago I was slamming back steak and clams. Couldn't believe it was included in the ticket. And also complimentary coffee. They don't tell you this, but the sleeper ticket is actually first class. I initially thought I was being gouged for the privilege of not trying to sleep in a chair.
  - exabrial 7y ago
    Even the chairs in "coach class" beat Delta first class on a 737 by a few orders of magnitude.
marcinzm 7y ago
The capitol corridor goes to Sacramento and not LA. The Amtrak from SF (well Oakland) to LA leaves at 9am and arrives at 9pm. The one coming back leaves at 10am and arrives at 10pm. Hardly convenient timing and 4 hours slower than the bus (and that's without even counting the BART time to get into SF itself).

gambiting 7y ago

>>having it drive out to Tracy each evening and parking in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Do American supermarkets not have any time limits on parking? In the UK every single supermarket will have a 2-3 hour time limit on parking with anywhere between £70-100 fine for parking there for longer.

skunkworker 7y ago
Wal-Mart has allowed for overnight parking for quite awhile. It's even in their corporate Q&A[1] Q: Can I park my RV at a Walmart store? A: While we do not offer electrical service or accommodations typically necessary for RV customers, Walmart values RV travelers and considers them among our best customers. Consequently, we do permit RV parking on our store parking lots as we are able. Permission to park is extended by individual store managers, based on availability of parking space and local laws. Please contact management in each store to ensure accommodations before parking your RV. [1] https://corporate.walmart.com/frequently-asked-questions https://corporate.walmart.com/frequently-asked-questions
- protomyth 7y ago
  Several stores in North Dakota have banned the practice because of abuse and other problems.
  - wavefunction 7y ago
    Due to oil fields and lack of housing I imagine.
randallsquared 7y ago
It's not American supermarkets in general, but specifically Wal-Mart. Most Wal-Mart stores allow RV parking overnight. I would expect that UK supermarkets have only scarce parking, but Wal-Mart away from city centers typically has so much parking space that the lot is literally never full. For example: https://goo.gl/maps/PqQR9BD3Kshs4vvZ9 https://goo.gl/maps/PqQR9BD3Kshs4vvZ9 https://goo.gl/maps/B6ai1vRxJg5B63vr7 https://goo.gl/maps/B6ai1vRxJg5B63vr7 https://goo.gl/maps/DPCpegpGedKgy9TC9 https://goo.gl/maps/DPCpegpGedKgy9TC9

i_am_proteus 7y ago

$0.20 a mile in an RV? Fuel alone will be more than that.

jmpman 7y ago
Electric is the only way to get down to those operating costs. So your electric RV would need to supercharge by itself on the trip. $0.20/mile is 2.5kwh/mi at $0.08/kWh... seems possible.

TheDong 7y ago

> Which in a strange way will alleviate Bay Area housing shortage - when you’re living in an RV, do you care how far away it’s parked from work if it’s self driving? I can't wait to park my RV 30 miles away from work, go to sleep, and be woken up at 4am due to jostling and rush-hour noise as a fleet of hundreds of RVs all try to self-drive themselves into the city. I can't wait to use one of the least fuel-efficient vehicles possible, and make it even worse by having it drive itself around constantly to meet me at my office (since there's nowhere for it to park inside the city). It's okay, climate change will only be killing the people who can't afford their own personal RV.

jmpman 7y ago
That or living in a $2000/month studio apartment in the Tenderloin? I’d take the self driving RV. If it’s electric, charged by renewable energy, is it really that bad for the environment?

pontifier 7y ago

Autonomous RVs will change everything. I'll definitely be buying one when they are available. I like RVs but they are a challenge to drive. Take that downside away, and you have my ideal travel situation.