Re:The End of Uber with Cory Doctorow
by bathtub365 on Monday February 07, 2022 @11:54AM
(#30247462)
Uber will set up a program where you rent your self driving car to them while you aren’t using it. This lets them have their customers keep paying maintenance and depreciation (and only the ones who actually do the math will realize it costs them money).
This seems extremely unlikely to happen. If people were truly interested in renting out their cars while they aren't using them (and letting them get driven into the ground), Turo or Getaround would be huge.
Rental car companies usually have a fleet of leased vehicles, and current Uber/Lyft drivers are very often leases as well. It seems likely that future self-driving Ubers/Lyfts would continue that trend.
Everyone presumes this but it may not actually be true. I used to work with perhaps the most preeminent tech journalist covering Uber/Lyft/self-driving cars, and he would always point out that even if self-driving cars became a thing, would Uber now have to own a massive fleet of cars?