What makes you think they'll ever be for sale? I imagine Google has already beat your investment model to the punch. Guess you could design your own fleet of self driving cars, however.
Self-driving RV. Fall asleep in Illinois, wake up in Montana.
Quote from: ketchup on September 30, 2015, 10:40:29 AMSelf-driving RV. Fall asleep in Illinois, wake up in Montana.amtrak ride instead? For some reason trains aren't popular in the US?
If GPS isn't working one day, you're screwed.If that's the case, will we ever see unattended taxis?
Quote from: eyem on September 30, 2015, 10:47:00 AMQuote from: ketchup on September 30, 2015, 10:40:29 AMSelf-driving RV. Fall asleep in Illinois, wake up in Montana.amtrak ride instead? For some reason trains aren't popular in the US?Amtrak from Chicago to Missoula costs $390 (for a bed) and takes 32 hours. Twelve of those are on a bus. Driving takes 23 hours. Flying takes 5 and costs under $500. America is BIG.
I wonder what the insurance savings would be on a self driving car. Since you're not driving, you shouldn't need any insurance, right?
We're a long way from autonomous cars. It'll be another couple years before the government even allows a self-driving car with a person behind the wheel. It'll probably be 20 years beyond that before you'll see autonomy, if ever. Autonomy raises a whole lot of questions that have to be answered. Who is liable in the event of a problem, etc.
Quote from: GuitarStv on October 01, 2015, 06:12:11 AMI wonder what the insurance savings would be on a self driving car. Since you're not driving, you shouldn't need any insurance, right?you shouldn't need insurance on a rental because you don't live there right?
Quote from: Mr. Green on October 01, 2015, 07:14:14 AMWe're a long way from autonomous cars. It'll be another couple years before the government even allows a self-driving car with a person behind the wheel. It'll probably be 20 years beyond that before you'll see autonomy, if ever. Autonomy raises a whole lot of questions that have to be answered. Who is liable in the event of a problem, etc.Elon Musk just said he expects Tesla to have fully autonomous vehicles in three years. That's a far cry from 20 years even if he is overstating things a bit.
Quote from: seattlecyclone on October 01, 2015, 08:25:06 AMQuote from: Mr. Green on October 01, 2015, 07:14:14 AMWe're a long way from autonomous cars. It'll be another couple years before the government even allows a self-driving car with a person behind the wheel. It'll probably be 20 years beyond that before you'll see autonomy, if ever. Autonomy raises a whole lot of questions that have to be answered. Who is liable in the event of a problem, etc.Elon Musk just said he expects Tesla to have fully autonomous vehicles in three years. That's a far cry from 20 years even if he is overstating things a bit.Capable but not legal, I think that's the bigger issue. Legal regulations on this stuff is going shit-slow. I work in R&D for an insurance company and have been screaming my head off (figuratively...for now) that we need to get some figures down on paper for handling this and my boss has said that the regulators aren't even close to having discussions, and those guys are the ones that advise the lawmakers. 20 years sounds excessive to me, but 10 or even 15 is a reasonable minimum. There's a lot of good progress in the passive driver area because you can still pin the driver for problems, but full automation is an enormous legal step.
I'm not aware of any law in my state that would preclude a licensed driver from sitting in the car and "operating" it by telling it where to go and then sitting back to enjoy the ride. Having it drive around empty would be another matter. Even so, I could totally see Musk pulling an Uber and saying "I don't care if the laws are ready yet, we're doing this." Once people experience the convenience of getting driven around by a computer, they will demand that their legislators make it legal.
Quote from: seattlecyclone on October 01, 2015, 11:03:37 AMI'm not aware of any law in my state that would preclude a licensed driver from sitting in the car and "operating" it by telling it where to go and then sitting back to enjoy the ride. Having it drive around empty would be another matter. Even so, I could totally see Musk pulling an Uber and saying "I don't care if the laws are ready yet, we're doing this." Once people experience the convenience of getting driven around by a computer, they will demand that their legislators make it legal.Here's a good example of the laws that have to be figured out-https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/laws/Pages/distracted-driving.aspxThat can reasonably apply to an autonomous vehicle right now. Which is kind of dumb when you think about it, but it's there on the books and it's a problem if you take your hands off the wheel and the google car does a barrel roll on a highway. I hope you are right more than I am, it's just what I've been seeing so far is a very apprehensive approach that isn't going to be resolved quickly.
$100,000 is a bit steep. $50,000? Yeah.