3 ms·
People are joking about how this is trains or busses, but I think you hit on something fundamental: - engine tech is now such that we no longer need one huge e
by two_handfuls 2y ago
People are joking about how this is trains or busses, but I think you hit on something fundamental:
- engine tech is now such that we no longer need one huge engine and lots of passenger to get good efficiency: many small engines works just as well.
- removing the need for everyone to stop where any one person needs to go ("bus stop") improves the experience drastically.
- the one remaining problem is density: cars would have to shrink a lot before they can reach the density of busses or trains.
So perhaps: a single-lane highway only accessible to self-driving vehicles driving in formation and where the vehicles must be below some specified size.
This gives us great last-mile experience, high throughput, and good safety.
- MichaelZuo 2y agoHow will these very shrunken cars be survivable in a crash at highway speeds? Plus modern crossovers are already very size efficient, A 2024 compact crossover like the Rav4 is pretty much already the smallest possible space that can comfortably accommodate 4 adult men in seated positions and 4 large suitcases.
- sfink 2y agoWhy would they crash at highway speeds? On a highway, they'd be in the dedicated lane. Not on a highway, they wouldn't be going at highway speeds. The point is an alternative to today's setup, for the majority of people who need to get somewhere. Not a way to mai
- MichaelZuo 2y agoBecause accidents will happen regardless? No one can possibly control all variables that would cause a crash.
- Toutouxc 2y ago> compact crossover like the Rav4 Funny how what you call a smallest-possible compact crossover looks like a huge disgusting waste of space to my European Škoda-driver’s eyes. The moment a car can be described as a “crossover”, or worse, an SUV, it becomes a waste of space IMO.
- MichaelZuo 2y agoWhat’s the smallest vehicle to your ‘Škoda-driver’s eyes’ that can comfortably seat 4 adult men and their large suitcases?
- itsacomment 2y agoWhy would that be any metric for the 99.9% of drivers that need something like that perhapd twice in a decade and shouldn't base their purchasing off that?
- MichaelZuo 2y agoBecause it’s not a metric for drivers? It’s a metric for the theoretical autonomous highway network mentioned above…
- Toutouxc 2y agoI’m going to be generous and say Škoda Octavia or VW Golf.
- Toutouxc 2y ago> we no longer need one huge engine and lots of passenger to get good efficiency Larger ships and planes are more efficient than smaller ones. Longer trains are more efficient than shorter ones. No matter how efficient your propulsion is, it’s always more efficient when installed in bigger vehicles. Unless we figure out free energy, I don’t think we should stop at any arbitrary “good efficiency”.