The autonomous (self driving) car buyers and owners thread (1 Viewer)

[Chuck Anstey]

Haven't read the latest links, but one had the provocative idea that autonomous cars will reduce car ownership, since cars will be available conveniently on demand.

Yeah. I didn't notice a miniaturized Johnny Cab driver on the dash so the people could talk to the driver and tell him the destination. I also expect smart ass remarks and eye rolling. A serious oversight if you ask me.

 

[KevinGress]

Back to Warren Buffet thinking that this will be a major blow to insurance companies; why?! If the expect outcome occurs and accidents are greatly reduced, insurance companies are salivating for autonomous cars. Many, if not most, states require insurance on vehicles. As long as there's a possibility of a collision - and there's always going to be a possibility - they'll require insurance. And even if it becomes this socialist utopia of 'shared' cars, someone's going to own them, so someone will be paying insurance. And if they do as advertise and most accidents are avoided, guess what? Insurance companies will be taking in money and not paying out. The last I checked, that's the kind of policies they love......

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Re: insurance companies. They would rather take in $10B and pay out $9B than take in $100M and pay out nothing. If accident rates get very low, they won't be able to take in much money because what keeps smaller and willing to have lower margins insurance companies out now is the high risk and cost.

 

[KevinGress]

Re: insurance companies. They would rather take in $10B and pay out $9B than take in $100M and pay out nothing. If accident rates get very low, they won't be able to take in much money because what keeps smaller and willing to have lower margins insurance companies out now is the high risk and cost.

But the cost of vehicles aren't going to go down; they'll go up. A simple 'fender bender' nowadays can cause a couple thousand dollars, just imagine adding in cost of electronics, plus calibration, etc. Insurance is based not just on likelihood, but value damaged/lost. I just don't see auto insurance taking that big of a hit until personal ownership is taken out of the equation.

 

[DaveF]

But the cost of vehicles aren't going to go down; they'll go up. A simple 'fender bender' nowadays can cause a couple thousand dollars, just imagine adding in cost of electronics, plus calibration, etc. Insurance is based not just on likelihood, but value damaged/lost. I just don't see auto insurance taking that big of a hit until personal ownership is taken out of the equation.

Stage 2: Self-repairing cars.


Haven't you seen Terminator 2?

 

[Sam Posten]

How about the 'discount' autonomous kit? /chillshttp://www.theverge.com/2014/6/23/5834604/cruise-trying-to-reinvent-cruise-control-to-steer-brake-and-actually-drive-you

 

[Chuck Anstey]

It scares me to think how little testing will go into the systems. There are standards to testing software when human life is involved and I am positive that none of them are coming close to that level.

 

[Sam Posten]

My biggest near term fear lies in how they will handle inclement weather and unusual edge case situations. Would you wanna ride in that Google car with 2 inches of snow on the ground? =0I think these ARE solvable problems in our lifetime, but it's going to be messy at first. Until it isn't.

 

[KevinGress]

Stage 2: Self-repairing cars.


Haven't you seen Terminator 2?

I'd rather THAT be stage 1. It's sad when nowadays 2 road pylons can essentially do $100 worth of damage to a vehicle because of all the plastic parts.

 

[Sam Posten]

As predicted:http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/16/5904571/the-fbi-is-worried-driverless-cars-will-be-used-as-bombs

 

[Sam Posten]

That's a bold statement!http://www.wired.com/2014/07/in-20-years-most-new-cars-wont-have-steering-wheels-or-pedals/?mbid=social_twitter

 

[Sam Posten]

Brits on board.http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28551069

 

[Sam Posten]

"It's easy to see these autos becoming better than humans because they already are"http://kottke.org/14/08/humans-need-not-applyIt irritates me to hell when I hear acquaintances bitching about people out of work being lazy and not wanting to work, but the reality is that the future isn't going to need as many of us to work. Smart people need to be thinking about this today.The Reddit discussion thread is gold too:http://www.reddit.com/r/CGPGrey/comments/2dfh5v/humans_need_not_apply/

 

[Sam Posten]

Fascinating moral dilemmas ahead!http://www.wired.com/2014/09/set-the-ethics-robot-car/?mbid=social_twitter

 

[Sam Posten]

GM is investing heavily and expects to have vehicles as soon as 2 years down the road. Seems way too optimistic to me:http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/7/6119553/gm-super-cruise-v2v-automated-drivingAlso, today I found out there is a Intelligent Transportation Society. Part of IEEE:http://sites.ieee.org/itss/Their latest newsletter:http://sites.ieee.org/itss/files/2014/08/v16n3July2014.pdfSome interesting stuff in there!

 

[schan1269]

I test drove a "self-highway driving" Subaru over the summer. What I want...Like LG and Samsung put in phones...if you look away...the phone knows.Granted cars already have no-dozing bells etc...but no sleeping.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I love mine. I never thought I would own one, but after the price fell below 40,000K, it came into my budget.

 

[DaveF]

I love mine. I never thought I would own one, but after the price fell below 40,000K, it came into my budget.

You have a self-driving car? The Subaru Sam mentioned?

 

[schan1269]

You have a self-driving car? The Subaru Sam mentioned?

Subaru EyeSight

 

[Sam Posten]

Here's where we shut our grand future off before it can blossom:http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2352108