Why you have (probably) already bought your last car

[6Foot2]

Link: Why you have (probably) already bought your last car [bBC News]

 

I'm guessing you are scoffing in disbelief at the very suggestion of this article, but bear with me.

 

A growing number of tech analysts are predicting that in less than 20 years we'll all have stopped owning cars, and, what's more, the internal combustion engine will have been consigned to the dustbin of history.

 

Yes, it's a big claim and you are right to be sceptical, but the argument that a unique convergence of new technology is poised to revolutionise personal transportation is more persuasive than you might think.

 

The central idea is pretty simple: Self-driving electric vehicles organised into an Uber-style network will be able to offer such cheap transport that you'll very quickly - we're talking perhaps a decade - decide you don't need a car any more.

 

And if you're thinking this timescale is wildly optimistic, just recall how rapidly cars replaced horses...

[LeMarchand]

I read this article as well. I'd love not to have to own a car, and to somehow have cheap transport that's available when you need it.

 

However... there seems to be way too many vested interests who won't like this idea (car manufacturers, petrochem, Jeremy Clarkson et al). Plus look at existing "public" transport: it's not there to provide a cheap, reliable and convenient service - it's there to make as much money as possible for the bosses and to a certain degree the shareholders.

[3s-gtech]

It's a fascinating concept, but when you look at how little transport in rural areas has advanced in 60 years (yes, cars, buses etc are more advanced, but they're essentially derived) I can't see it being the case outside of major cities for a much longer period. So, maybe it'll apply to the percentage of the population who live in major urban areas, but out here we barely have buses/trains/roads.

[DCUK6]

Personally i dread the day when they start phasing out new petrol cars. Even stopping production of manuals.

 

I love driving a car with some noise to it with a proper manual gearbox.

 

Having said that i dont think i will ever buy a new car from the last 10 years. They are all horrible looking.

 

Give me a up to late 1990's car any day.

 

Currently due to the miles i drive a little 106 diesel. Slow as you like but i still love driving the thing. Work has auto mobiles and i think i would rather have the uber service above. So boring to drive.

 

Currently looking at a 97 celica gt. Keep telling myself i dont need it tho.

[hardtailstar]

Well I still will be upgrading my car in three years time

[gshaw]

Transport as a service

 

That phrase sends shivers down my spine

[jthompson]

I await the inevitable "people who don't want [megacorporations/nation states] to know where they're going obviously have something to hide, and we need to know what that is".

[sigma]

It's a fascinating concept, but when you look at how little transport in rural areas has advanced in 60 years (yes, cars, buses etc are more advanced, but they're essentially derived) I can't see it being the case outside of major cities for a much longer period. So, maybe it'll apply to the percentage of the population who live in major urban areas, but out here we barely have buses/trains/roads.

 

I'm in the sticks, so wondering if that will be before we get gas or mains drainage.

[sted]

or even the simpler problem of say a few visitors to next door for example mean when you go to get in a car for work there are none available locally and its a 20 minute wait. not to mention i dont really want to be transferring the stuff i have in the boot from car to car all the time (i work multiple sites so i have cables screwdrivers etc in the boot). Also would you want to trust connecting your phone to a public vehicles bluetooth say to use the sound system?

[sigma]

I await the inevitable "people who don't want [megacorporations/nation states] to know where they're going obviously have something to hide, and we need to know what that is".

I don't need or want my location to be tracked. (I have an unregistered Oyster card that I top up with cash).

 

[PotNoodleTech]

Blah blah blah. Electric cars have been out a decade and they've barely gained any traction at all worldwide. if you think you'll all be flying around in electric automated hover cars in 10 years you're all off your trolley!

 

Nothing much is gonna move forward with this until petrol/oil actually runs out.

[Andrew_C]

I can't see how this is going to work in real life.

 

What are my chances of getting a car at 7:30 in the morning? Or 18:20 when I want to leave work?

 

Sure, if there was a really good integrated public transport system, and these cars were for the odd "I need to go somewhere bizarre with unfeasable amounts of kit" journeys...

[6Foot2]

Blah blah blah. Electric cars have been out a decade and they've barely gained any traction at all worldwide. if you think you'll all be flying around in electric automated hover cars in 10 years you're all off your trolley!

 

Nothing much is gonna move forward with this until petrol/oil actually runs out.

Using fossil fuels to exhaustion is a really bad idea for numerous reasons uppermost of these, probably, it would not be good for the environment and is it is a non-renewable resource.

 

But when did the application of common sense matter? [Rhetorical]

 

[christhetech]

It would be nice to just have a public transport network that actually works in this country. Then, and only then, I would actually start to believe that people would actually consider giving up their cars in favour of using alternative means of getting from A to B.

The problems on the rail network alone are already well documented, with our local provider Northern Rail constantly cancelling services for all manner of ridiculous reasons to the point where somebody has created an app which publishes every single cancelled Northern Rail service (its called Northern Fail if anybody fancies a good laugh). The impact on businesses across the region is already apparent, even with a decent number of commuters voting with their feet and using their cars instead to get to work, so how would it work if they had no feasible alternative?

It's years since I used a bus, and having spoken to a few colleagues who rely on buses to get them to work every day, I'm glad I don't have that torture every day. The local bus operators have quite a decent fleet of nice shiny new buses, all equipped with WiFi and USB ports to charge your phone etc, but they are still unreliable.

Taxi to work? I'm not a lottery winner. I couldn't afford it! With the likes of Uber hiking up prices at peak times, you'd need pretty deep pockets to get to work and back every day.

 

A car gives you an element of freedom that is just not replicated in the current public transport infrastructure. I think that we will probably see a steady increase in the use of Hybrid or electric powered vehicles, but there is still much that needs to be done to make them viable on a mass-market scale. There are electric charging points starting to pop up here and there, but certainly not enough to make owning an electric vehicle a viable option for everbody.

[6Foot2]

...The problems on the rail network alone are already well documented, with our local provider Northern Rail constantly cancelling services for all manner of ridiculous reasons to the point where somebody has created an app which publishes every single cancelled Northern Rail service (its called Northern Fail if anybody fancies a good laugh)...

Link: Sorry for the Inconvenience

 

[christhetech]

Link: Sorry for the Inconvenience

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]50555[/ATTACH]

 

Which just shows that the problems with Northern Rail are exactly the same issues that commuters are dealing with on a daily basis across the whole of the UK. When you consider the cost of rail travel, it's pretty sad to think that you are paying through the nose for a network that doesn't work.

[matt40k]

I don't need or want my location to be tracked. (I have an unregistered Oyster card that I top up with cash).

 

 

Don't you have a smartphone?

[mavhc]

Personally i dread the day when they start phasing out horses. Even stopping production of foals.

 

I love riding a horse with some noise to it with a proper manual stirrup.

 

Having said that i don't think i will ever buy a new horse from the last 10 years. They are all horrible looking.

 

Give me a up to late 1890's horse any day.

 

Currently due to the miles i drive a little pony. Slow as you like but i still love riding the thing. Work has horseless carriages and i think i would rather have the coachhorse service above. So boring to drive.

 

Currently looking at a 97 celica gt. Keep telling myself i dont need it tho.

[matt40k]

HAHAHA! Buy the man a pony!

[jthompson]

HAHAHA! Buy the man a pony!

 

Have you seen the emissions from those things?!

[sigma]

Don't you have a smartphone?

 

Only very recently. I bought a oneplus 6 which I deGoogled as much as possible. The signal coverage is patchy here so I’m off grid quite a bit.

[mavhc]

As regards to capacity, it's pretty simple, book ahead of time, you're probably going to work tomorrow at 8am, so prebook, get a discount.

 

Get a discount for sharing the robotaxi, a discount for taking a 5 min diversion to pick up a 2nd passenger. When there's 10 people going the same way send a minibus, when there's 100 a bus, 1000 a train. Just In Time transportation. No more waiting for a bus/train.

 

Only issue people have with electric cars is range vs initial purchase price, robotaxis fix both those problems. In every other way EVs are better.

 

Although they do lose the personal touch of naming your horse and petting it and brushing its tail. Still, for people who like the old fashioned ways you can always get a horse to play with on the weekends at the horse track

[TTG_Alice]

I had the new Nissan Leaf to test drive for 24 hours on Sunday as I got to say I was really impressed. There are a lot of free electric charging points around where we are in retail parks and I work next to a Nissan showroom where you can charge for free. The engine was super quiet and was blown away with some modes it had. Sort of driving itself with some features. Bit scary to start with but pretty amazing. Would recommend anyone to give it a go

[Andrew_C]

As regards to capacity, it's pretty simple, book ahead of time, you're probably going to work tomorrow at 8am, so prebook,

 

EVERYONE will be pre booking journeys INTO towns in the morning, and out in the evening. How can they hope to match the capacity needed for peak times, without being hopelessly over stocked for the rest of the day, or running empty vehicles around?

[mavhc]

Put >1 person in a car, or use a minibus, or a bus, or a train