Electric cars, robo taxis and self-driving trucks are coming and possibly sooner than you think.
Limited tests of driverless cars are already happening today and they could be in use everywhere within six years. A change on that scale would reach far beyond the automotive industry to upend businesses, transform our daily lifestyles and reshape cities around the world.
Even if the skeptics are right and the technology necessary for full autonomy develops more slowly , the revolution could still claim many victims.
Bikes and Buses
In a future where anyone is able to summon a cheap driverless pod at the click of a smartphone button, the line between public and private transport would start to blur.
Ride hailing services such as Uber and Lyft are already reducing demand for public transport across the U.S. People use ride hailing apps instead of taking the train, driving, cycling or even walking.
Removing human drivers from the equation could make those services even more affordable and convenient compared with trains or buses following fixed routes, saving time for passengers. Dwindling passenger numbers could ultimately starve public transit of investment.
Domestic Airlines
In the U.S. people often fly between or even within states, but autonomous technology could make car journeys a more pleasant and productive alternative. The impact could be similar to Japan’s bullet trains, which diverted passengers away from airlines. You could potentially sleep through the night and wake up in a different state.
Let’s face it airports suck, the airlines are horrible, and no likes the tedious TSA lines and having to be at the airport three hours ahead of their flight. In a driverless car you could read a book, watch a movie, take a nap and do other fun stuff. All while seeing the scenery along the way.
Insurance Premiums
Today more than 90 percent of road accidents are caused by human error, so once you take people out of the equation safety will probably improve. Driverless cars will be able to communicate their position to one another. As well as pedestrian monitoring technology to avoid further accidents.
Initially, there could be two types of insurance — one for manual cars and one for autonomous — with premiums for the latter eventually falling an estimated 50 percent.
Traffic Jams
Cloud-connected vehicles with advanced computers running the show won’t just drive themselves, they’ll be able to communicate with other cars, traffic signals or emergency services. Even if the number of cars on the road increases, these systems could speed up city traffic and reduce jams by rerouting flows away from accidents or repricing toll routes.
Parking Tickets
Some of the most hated people on the planet may soon find themselves out of work. If shared driverless cars constantly patrol the streets awaiting a ride before returning for storage in centralized depots, rather than parking on the street, there’ll be little need for parking enforcement officers.
Even those that do seek street parking would have an advantage over you or other drivers. The U.K. tech startup AppyParking , which features a map of parking spaces in 11 cities, says it could also allow driverless cars to find a spot easily.
Truck Drivers
Autonomous vehicles may not be a such a bad thing for long-haul truckers, because the industry is already facing a worsening shortage of drivers.
In the U.S., fewer young people want to do the job and the average age of drivers is 49, so within 10 years many will be close to retirement. Before that happens, self-driving technology could make the job less stressful.
The best analog is commercial air travel, which has been heavily automated for some time. Drivers will handle things like pickup and delivery similar to the way a pilots are responsible for takeoff and landing, but switch to more automated systems for long-distance highway travel with the advancements of autonomous technology.
Mechanics
Auto repair shops may grow to hate the sight of autonomous battery-powered cars, on the rare occasions they actually encounter them. Many of the common repairs for gasoline-powered vehicles — replacing spark plugs or engine oil — simply won’t be needed for electric motors.
They’ll still have tires and brakes that suffer wear and tear, but the lack of a combustion engine makes a big difference. Analysts at UBS Group AG who stripped down a Chevrolet Bolt concluded that it doesn’t require any maintenance for the first 150,000 miles it drives, compared with servicing every 10,000 miles for a Volkswagen Golf. Fewer bumps and scrapes caused by human error also mean lower demand for repairs to headlights and body panels.
The Gas Pump
Rapid adoption of electric vehicles could mean oil demand peaks in just 12 years. That would send shock-waves through an industry that’s counting on consumption growth for decades to come.
Some major producers, such as BP Plc, are already acknowledging the possibility that some oil resources will never be needed. This scenario raises difficult questions for Saudi Arabia, which has more than 70 years of crude reserves and hopes to achieve a IPO valuation of more than $1 trillion for its national oil company later this year.
The Winners
For Netflix Inc. or Nintendo Co. Ltd., time currently spent driving could be opened up for movies or games. As well as companies that provide internet access on the go. Your Verizon data could soon be used to work while your ride drives you to work. Electric utilities in developed countries would see soaring demand after years of stagnating growth. For law enforcement, 3D sensors and high definition cameras would potentially make each vehicle a roving spy able to determine fault in an accident, witness street crime or spot suspicious patterns of behavior.