Remember that Uber doesn’t make money. And they pay their drivers less than the driver is losing to depreciation. Also, the robot isn’t free. Software isn’t free — it’s really expensive actually.
All of the cost savings that you describe also don’t require a robotaxi to realize. The cost per trip of my wife’s Nissan Leaf is about 60% of the SUV.
Even the durability can be addressed by buying a Toyota or Honda vs a Jeep or whatever.
What will be an issue for the Ubers of the world is accounting. Without some sucker wasting his car away, Uber needs to invest billions in assets and infrastructure. That capital structure is more like an airline than Google. Not something Wall St rewards.
> That capital structure is more like an airline than Google. Not something Wall St rewards.
This is the part we are disconnected on. It is the hardest part to guess about.
If the accounting works out like an airline, I agree with you that costs will remain high and will not change transportation significantly.
However, unlike an airline, the variable cost per ride is low. The way I see it, the economics will work out more like a data center (relative to an airline). Which is something Wall St does reward.
All of the cost savings that you describe also don’t require a robotaxi to realize. The cost per trip of my wife’s Nissan Leaf is about 60% of the SUV.
Even the durability can be addressed by buying a Toyota or Honda vs a Jeep or whatever.
What will be an issue for the Ubers of the world is accounting. Without some sucker wasting his car away, Uber needs to invest billions in assets and infrastructure. That capital structure is more like an airline than Google. Not something Wall St rewards.