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Waymo cars are basically priceless at this point. As in: the car cost doesn't matter. They've so far spent multiple times their fleet's costs on R&D. The fact t
by cyberax 1y ago
Waymo cars are basically priceless at this point. As in: the car cost doesn't matter. They've so far spent multiple times their fleet's costs on R&D. The fact that they're getting some pocket cash from paid fares is inconsequential for their bottom line.
Any realistic mass deployment will use cheaper cars, more suitable for taxi service.
- simondotau 1y agoThe cost isn't an issue at their current scale, perhaps not even one order of magnitude larger, because today's fleet is as much a devkit as it is a consumer product. But that strategy only takes them so far. Cost is a dangerous impediment to scale, and it will be their albatross long before their business model has a chance of becoming profitable, let alone cumulatively profitable.
- cyberax 1y agoOther companies have this covered, I think. Zoox cars in Las Vegas are probably a good prototype for more realistic production vehicles.