Currently, it looks like individuals are spending a number of time pondering what society might be like post-Coronavirus. Whereas everyone seems to be craving going again to the world we knew, we’re additionally acknowledging that the world won’t ever be the identical. I respect that there have been many articles (like this one and this one) that current a number of the societal shifts that might occur because of this pandemic and I figured I’d take it a step farther and see what it’d imply within the driverless business. Listed here are a number of the large tendencies (related to driverless autos) that I’m seeing:
- Automobile gross sales are shifting to a web based market (hyperlink right here);
- Searching for groceries, garments, and every thing else is massively shifting on-line, which is lowering our particular person automotive possession, however placing heavy reliance on items supply (hyperlink right here);
- Since workplaces are encouraging working remotely, buying has largely shifted on-line, and most public locations are closed, individuals are driving a lot much less (hyperlink right here);
- Persons are scared to journey public transit and take shared rides as a result of shut proximity to others (link right here);
Whereas many of those adjustments are out of necessity at this time, it’s very attainable that they are going to instill long-term change. So what does this imply for driverless autos? It’s clear individuals are anticipating the driverless supply of products, which is a superb alternative for constructing shopper acceptance for driverless autos, typically. And this huge discount in car miles traveled (VMT) is reminding folks of a cleaner, safer world – might this create longer-term impacts? Higher environmental insurance policies? Alternatively, this doesn’t bode properly for shared, driverless rides – although I’m hopeful this isn’t a long-term influence.
I hope our society may be considerate about how we re-open our society…not simply almost about the sharing of germs, however with our insurance policies, our companies, and our particular person practices. Let’s take into consideration the world we wish and develop into proactively attempt to make it occur. Shared, electrical, driverless autos – how can we get there? Encourage shared rides, incentivize electrical car utilization, create supportive driverless laws, discourage single occupancy car utilization (and car possession, typically), and proceed to show and talk driverless car success tales. Whereas the know-how continues to be superior, these are all essential foundational components.
