5 ms·

Because the robotaxi arrives faster, is cheaper, safer and more convenient.

hef19898 3y ago
Besides driver breaks, robotaxis are bound by the same constarintsbas normal ones. So no, it won't arrive faster, might (and that is already some claim) be a tad cheaper if you ignore CAPEX, have yet to prove to be safer than humans (so far self druving cars are not, and by a long shot, safer than humans) and convenience doesn't change except for the most, how to put it politely, asocial beings that cannot stand being anywhere near to other human beings, in case of taxis a driver.
- ArtTimeInvestor 3y ago
  It arrives faster because there are more of them. Every time the density doubles, wait times roughly halve. It is way cheaper because majority of Uber cost is the driver. Safety: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38456847 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38456847 It is more convenient because it has more space. No drivers seat, steering wheel etc.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    More taxis mean more CAPEx, mean utilization goes down off-peak, bothe of which result in lower profitability. Robot driver or not, basic financials and operational constraints still apply. They can only be ignored for quite a while if a company has endless VC money, unit economics ultimately catch up so, always.
  - aylmao 3y ago
    > It arrives faster because there are more of them I think you’re overestimating how many people will buy Teslas. Also, how many people who own Teslas would robotaxi it. A company might do it as a business, but it’d just take waking up one morning to discover a drunk passenger puked all over your back seat, or fluid remains of someone having sex in there [1] for individual owners to pull out of the program. [1] https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/11/san-francisco-robotaxi-cruise-debauchery/ https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/11/san-francisco-robotaxi-cru...
  - dagw 3y ago
    It is way cheaper because majority of Uber cost is the driver. That is only true because Uber doesn't have to pay for buying and maintaining the cars in their 'fleet', having offloaded that cost to their drivers. If Uber were to move to owning robotaxis then they have to have to move the car ownership costs back onto their books.
    - ArtTimeInvestor 3y ago
      The total monthly cost of owning and maintaining a car is just a few hundred dollars. The total monthly revenue of a taxi is several thousand dollars. When you take the driver out of the equation, the cost of providing rides plummets massively.
      - bagels 3y ago
        Who is paying for fuel and insurance?
        ArtTimeInvestor 3y ago
        That's in the "few hundred dollars" monthly total cost.
        hef19898 3y ago
        Ever heard of deprecation of assets? But sure, as long as other take all the costs and most of risks away from the new liberatrian tech nobility we are suppossed to not care about those little things, right?

hef19898 3y ago

Besides driver breaks, robotaxis are bound by the same constarintsbas normal ones. So no, it won't arrive faster, might (and that is already some claim) be a tad cheaper if you ignore CAPEX, have yet to prove to be safer than humans (so far self druving cars are not, and by a long shot, safer than humans) and convenience doesn't change except for the most, how to put it politely, asocial beings that cannot stand being anywhere near to other human beings, in case of taxis a driver.

ArtTimeInvestor 3y ago
It arrives faster because there are more of them. Every time the density doubles, wait times roughly halve. It is way cheaper because majority of Uber cost is the driver. Safety: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38456847 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38456847 It is more convenient because it has more space. No drivers seat, steering wheel etc.
- hef19898 3y ago
  More taxis mean more CAPEx, mean utilization goes down off-peak, bothe of which result in lower profitability. Robot driver or not, basic financials and operational constraints still apply. They can only be ignored for quite a while if a company has endless VC money, unit economics ultimately catch up so, always.
- aylmao 3y ago
  > It arrives faster because there are more of them I think you’re overestimating how many people will buy Teslas. Also, how many people who own Teslas would robotaxi it. A company might do it as a business, but it’d just take waking up one morning to discover a drunk passenger puked all over your back seat, or fluid remains of someone having sex in there [1] for individual owners to pull out of the program. [1] https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/11/san-francisco-robotaxi-cruise-debauchery/ https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/11/san-francisco-robotaxi-cru...
- dagw 3y ago
  It is way cheaper because majority of Uber cost is the driver. That is only true because Uber doesn't have to pay for buying and maintaining the cars in their 'fleet', having offloaded that cost to their drivers. If Uber were to move to owning robotaxis then they have to have to move the car ownership costs back onto their books.
  - ArtTimeInvestor 3y ago
    The total monthly cost of owning and maintaining a car is just a few hundred dollars. The total monthly revenue of a taxi is several thousand dollars. When you take the driver out of the equation, the cost of providing rides plummets massively.
    - bagels 3y ago
      Who is paying for fuel and insurance?
      - ArtTimeInvestor 3y ago
        That's in the "few hundred dollars" monthly total cost.
        hef19898 3y ago
        Ever heard of deprecation of assets? But sure, as long as other take all the costs and most of risks away from the new liberatrian tech nobility we are suppossed to not care about those little things, right?