The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

Re:The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car by EvanAnderson on Monday May 11, 2015 @07:07PM (#9528441)

I think the existing auto fleet can be overcome fairly easily, albeit by a company that enters the market in a position that's initially losing.

The model I see that will remove individually-owned, occupant driven vehicles will some variation of:

My company will purchase your auto and credit you some amount of haulage on my autocar network, and perhaps some cash. For the low income people using sub-$1,000 cars a token amount of credit will be sufficient. The real value for them will be the convenience and reliability of transport they get from my system. Imagine not losing your hard-won job because your "beater" car failed at an inopportune time. Imagine not having unexpected car expenses that make you choose between, say, food and transportation.

The higher-end market will be a tougher sell, but there are likely productivity, personal time, and environmental impact arguments that can be made there.

I'll sell your car (likely at a loss) in some area when I haven't achieved market penetration yet (or for salvage). Once you're bought-in to my network you might leave me for a competitor, but ideally I'll use regulation, contractual lock-in, and other tools to attempt to keep Customers tied to my product until I've recouped my initial investment.

I think it could work. I don't particularly like it, but I think it has at least a non-zero possibility of happening.

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Re:The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car by whatusername on Tuesday May 12, 2015 @03:22PM (#9534209)

Where do parents fit in this utopia of yours? I've got 2 car seats and a pram and some toys in my car in the driveway. Personally owned transport makes more sense for people who have to move things other than themselves and a laptop (tools, babies, etc)

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Re:The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car by EvanAnderson on Tuesday May 12, 2015 @05:44PM (#9535147)

Utopia? Did you read the last sentence of my comment? I think a self-driving car future is a future with disempowered individuals in a neo-feudal transportation world. It sounds terrible to me, but I think it's likely to happen (at least in the US). There are practical and economic advantages in that future and some large existing economic players who can profit from it.

I'd tend agree with your comment in the short term. Moving my daughter's child safety car seat would be a pain, for sure. Longer-term I would expect to see modular standards emerge for child safety car seats. You lock your child's seat into the standardized base that's hiding under a seat cushion in the back of the car. There are already stroller / pram systems that incorporate the child safety car seat, so I could expect that market to boom, too.

Moving things besides yourself is something a lot of people in urban areas already do with public transit. With a private autocar service it's more likely that you'd get more space than on a subway or bus, so I'd think it would be even easier to move more than just yourself. I would expect a rental option to let you keep the car with you, as opposed to it returning to the fleet when you reach your destination.

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