Depending on the form in which the autonomous driving comes on the road, depending on the cost will be. So suppose the vehicles were technically so far and could be approved. What would that look like?
The business models for the autonomous driving are still being developed. The question is whether it as well private car comes to the market?
Autonomous Driving
Some industry participants rely on the concept of robot taxi. So there is already such a service in Las Vegasof Lyft and Aptiv is operated, and a service in Phoenix in the US state Arizonafrom the Google sister Waymo is offered.
Another model is the autonomous e-shuttles, which should complement especially the public transport. But not yet authorized can drive these vehicles mostly on private grounds. In Berlin Now a shuttle is to be used in public transport, in Hamburg drives such a vehicle on the test track and in Bad Birnbach They also already travel with passengers.
The model of the autonomous private car is controversial. It is about the question of whether the benefits in fuel consumption be lifted by private vehicles. Imagine the following scenario: The car drives the parents to work and then drives home. Then the children are driven to school and the car goes back home. At the end of school or at the end of the day, the car starts to pick up people.
So there are a bunch of empty runs, This can also be done when the vehicles are sent, for example, while shopping on tour to the parking spot to save. A study by US researchers focusing on Texas even explained that such empty runs would have to be limited,
The benefits such as reducing pollution, reducing parking and traffic would not occur. Certainly, the benefits that Time in the car to use differently is tempting, but what is one willing to pay for it?
Above all, the vehicles would be quite expensive even if the sensors. On lidarand that would take some of the car, still amounts to a four-figure amount. If there is an accident or something has to be replaced, the systems must be recalibrated. The repair costs So would rise too.
But the numbers barely match the survey results. The study “Enabling the Value of Time“Interrogated interested in different countries. On average, people in Germany would be more than ready 1,500 euros spend for it. But this hardly covers the costs incurred for lidar systems or for the developed software.
Even Tesla, who renounce a lidar, would be more expensive, which announced Elon Musk recently. Would people be ready too? Car Loan Comparison to strive to afford such a car? People would have to invest significantly more money to buy such a vehicle. The maintenance costs might decrease, also because the system would detect internal faults and call for timely maintenance. But also repair costs would be increased, which probably also on the insurance would affect.
Is the private car in autonomous driving thus a supporting business model? I do not think so and then the question arises, what do the manufacturers have from it? They then sell their cars rather to driving services and fleet managers. The decrease of large numbers would lower the price. So the business model of robotic taxis makes more sense, in my opinion, than that of private vehicles that drive by themselves.
About David Fluhr
I’ve been writing about Autonomous & Connected Driving since 2011 and I’m writing on other sites like the Smart Mobility Hub. I studied social sciences at the HU Berlin and since 2012 I am a freelance journalist. Contact: mail@autonomes-fahren.de