In 10 years some cars will be free. Yes, free.

[Cicada]

Our cars are parked 95% if the time. The cost to propel an electric car is a very small percentage of gas. With driverless electric cars running most of the time they will be so cheap they can give you a free ride if you agree to spend at least 15 minutes at a Walmart which will pay for the trip. I read that, forget where.

The near future is going to lower car costs by more than half even with 95% parked time.

Along with that dude beaten on Jeopardy by Big Blue I for one welcome our new computer overlords.

[A HERETIC I AM]

1. Not to mention youre going from hundreds of moving parts..

To basically 4

Maintenance costs will plummet

[jmowreader]

5. Electric cars have no suspensions or brakes?

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. Comparing engines and drive trains

Going from a multi cylinder internal combustion engine and multi speed transmission to 4 electric motors

[shenmue]

2. Wow

[PoliticAverse]

3. More likely it'd be "free trip within 10 miles if you spend more than XXX dollars.". n/t

[Thunderbeast]

4. ...and nuclear power will be too cheap to meter.

[USALiberal]

13. What a silly comparison....

This sounds like you....

I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years… . Ever since, I have distrusted myself and avoided all predictions.

— Wilbur Wright, in a speech to the Aero Club of France,

Self driving cars are coming, get used to it!

[LanternWaste]

31. And computers will be in everyone's homes...

And computers will be in everyone's homes...

[hunter]

42. ...in my home free computers, or nearly so.

It amuses me that I can take someone else's discarded computer, wipe Microsoft Windows, install Linux, and have a "new" desktop machine. That's how I get all my 21st century desktop machines. At most I'll replace the hard drive with an SSD and maybe add some memory.

It also amuses me that I can purchase what once would have been considered a supercomputer new for $35.

I agree with the original post that car rides will be "free" with any purchase. For example you'll buy movie tickets online, check the "need a ride box" and a car will simply be there right on time to pick you up and take you home again, no further action needed, price included in the movie tickets.

[Merlot]

6. So who drives to the store and turns around and drives home?

Pretty much no one. Everyone stops at the bank, picks up kids, dry cleaning, shops somewhere other than (gag) walmart, etc. Stops for lunch, meets a friend.

[Cicada]

7. After 15 minutes you are free to go elsewhere, such as the zoo etc.

[Merlot]

38. And your travels are tracked and recorded, and sold.

Nothings free, hasn't the internet taught us that yet?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. Men. nt

[Yavin4]

22. Yep. Did just that tonight.

Had to buy a surge protector power strip. Went in. Found it. Bought it. Came home. End of algorithm.

[Decoy of Fenris]

24. "Yep" as well.

Ran out of coffee grounds, so I went to the store, bought coffee grounds, came home. I don't think I'll ever understand the people that go out and stay out for hours.

[spinbaby]

28. This is linguistically interesting

I’ve noticed that, in some parts of the country, ground coffee is called coffee grounds. I seem to hear it when I’m in Tennessee, so I suspect it’s a southern thing. For the rest of us, coffee grounds is what’s leftover after we make coffee.

[Ilsa]

30. And some of us just say, "I went to the grocery store for coffee."

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Dead On!

I do it all the time.

Run to pharmacy. Go home. Go buy beer, go home. Run to supermarket, go right home. Run to bowling alley, bowl 5 games, go home.

Probably on 4 different days.

Of course, they're all within a mile of the house, so it's not like i'm taking a lot of time in the drive.

[NCTraveler]

43. A lot of people. Including those buying cold groceries.

It isn't uncommon for someone to simply go grocery shopping.

[ProudLib72]

8. But the only reason I ever go to walmart is to buy engine oil

I'm being completely serious.

[Cicada]

9. 15 minutes at Walmart is the ticket to go elsewhere for free

You can then go where you want, such as Whole Foods to buy artisanal olive oil to lubricate yourself

[ProudLib72]

20. Do I have to go inside?

If I can just sit in the car in the parking lot and read DU on my phone for 15 minutes, then I guess it would be ok.

[Cicada]

23. No. You can sit in the car and read dem underground for 15 minures

Maybe. We in the future control center haven’t made a final decision on this matter yet.

[mythology]

11. The problem being that while our cars are largely idle, we all want them at the same time

Sure cars aren't used at 1 am, but everybody wants to leave work at 5. I haven't seen an analysis that accounts for that. It's all well and good to find a way to share vehicles in theory, but there's a reason so few of us actually car pool.

[crazycatlady]

29. Sharing vehicles only works when everyone is 100% in

I was voluntold as an (unpaid) Uber driver at work last year (I've since left this employer). It was expected that my car would always have passengers in it and that I would hand over the keys when someone needed the car. (I was paid the same as someone without a drivers license).

I wasn't comfortable as everyone's chauffeur and I sure as hell was not going to let others drive my car. My insurance doesn't cover that.

My car is my personal property. It is not to be used by someone else when I"m not driving it.

[marybourg]

12. Yeah, electricity was supposed to be free

by now, and we were all going to have to work only 3 or 4 hours a week for our pay. Oh, and cars were going to fly. Predictions are difficult, especially about the future.

[USALiberal]

14. Another silly comparison....

When People predicted flying cars there were no flying cars. Google has put millions of miles on self driving cars already. Do more reading about it. This is the real deal no matter how much you don’t like it.

[marybourg]

15. I like it a lot. I also liked the idea of only working

3 or 4 hours a week, when I was working 40.

[USALiberal]

16. I can send you links if needed!

[marybourg]

18. Unfortunately, I can't send links to the predictions

I referenced, because there were no links in those days. No one was even predicting the future existance of links. Only of flying cars, free electricity and 3 or 4 hour work weeks. The future seems to have a mind of its own.

[RB TexLa]

17. Also we won't have to go to stores. Order, send the car. They put in your groceries or whatever

and send the car back to you.

And the entire loading process can be automated as well.

[gratuitous]

19. As long as it's not raining or snowing

Yeah, self-driving cars are totally going to work on clear, sunny days. Oh, and as long as there are no pedestrians, cars parked along the curb that might pull out, and every other car is self-driving, then it's just around the corner. Except they won't be so good in the city center. And some of the more remote rural roads will be tough to negotiate. Vaporware.

[Demonaut]

21. 95% parked?...how long would it take me to walk that distance, I wear a suit

[Deb]

26. Wal-Mart offers 2day free shipping

Why would I drive there?

[PoliticAverse]

45. The in-store prices are lower than the "with free shipping" price in many cases. n/t

[unblock]

32. it will cost. this analysis ignores a lot of economics and practical experience.

even if suppliers could still turn a profit per unit on something as cheap as a 15 minutes at walmart, there won't be enough effective competition to drive prices down to that level, and there will be enough effective demand to drive prices higher.

in any event, the header is wrong, the analysis is trying to suggest that individual rides would be very cheap because driverless cars could be in service most of the time. this implies that the cost of driverless cars themselves would be higher, because they could be used to offer other people rides.

also, the proper comparison would be to taxis, not privately owned cars. taxis aren't idly parked 95% of the time.

[Cicada]

34. Taxis require humans, E cars will get cheap to make and operate

The per mile cost of an e-car without a driver will get crazy low, less than ten cents? A car for hire will have idle times when the marginal cost will be even lower. Ads already pay for various things, why not this also?

[unblock]

37. the way markets work in practice.

even if the cost is crazy low, people are willing to pay much more and there will never be enough available cars where and when you need one to compete enough to drive down the price that much.

cheaper to operate is only one of the factors affecting price.

many beverages have huge margins, from sodas to booze. people will spend way more for hard liquor than it costs to produce. and there certainly seems to be plenty of competition, yet prices still aren't super cheap.

[FSogol]

33. When they started building nuclear power plants, they told everyone that electrical power would be

so cheap, that it would be too costly to meter it. Thus free electricity!

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for free cars.

[dembotoz]

35. Live in a state that hates public transportation

They will block it in Wisconsin as being socialist unless walker gets a user fee for each trip

[MineralMan]

36. Just like electrical power from nuclear power plants.

It's good that I don't have to pay for my electricity any more.

[Henry Krinkle]

39. I read the same article

Seems like another pipe dream to me...

Driverless Cars Could Make Transportation Free for Everyone—With a Catch

As self-driving cars inch closer to everyday reality, journalists, futurists, economists, and ethicists have weighed in with numerous predictions about autonomous vehicles’ future impact. Liquor sales will rise, the predictions go, since no one will worry about driving under the influence. Cars will have ethics knobs, with settings that vary from minimizing overall harm in a crash to saving the occupants at any cost. Steering wheels, traffic jams, and parking meters will become quaint relics, like hitching posts and watering troughs.

But these prognostications miss what will be one of the biggest developments of all: In a world full of autonomous autos, transportation will become free. Not just hands-free, or driver-free, or go-wherever-you-want free. But free as in beer: complimentary, gratis. Summon a car and travel for nothing—that is, so long as you are willing to make a stop or two en route at sponsoring locations.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/12/self-driving-cars-free-future/548945/

[sarcasmo]

40. European and Asian countries yes, the Corporation we live in, no way.

[LWolf]

41. I just had to put my vehicle in the shop for a few days.

It's 14 years old, has about 125K miles, and has never needed anything but oil changes, tires, and windshield wipers. Oh, and a headlight and a battery a few years back.

I got to drive a 2017 model while it was having some work done. All the bells and whistles. The only thing I really wanted to keep when I dropped it off was the heated seat; the rest? I'm happy to have my old faithful back. If cars are free or low cost in 10 years, that's great, because I sure as hell can't afford to buy something now. If I could, I would have invested in a hybrid to use less fuel. I can't, though, so my Tacoma, the energizer bunny it is, will keep doing the job.

Car manufacturers don't really produce what I need, anyway. The closest so far is the Subaru Cross Trek hybrid. I need 4wd or awd if I want to make it out of my 100 yd gravel drive and 2 miles down the county dirt road to get to the first paved road that's plowed. Until the Cross Trek, hybrids with awd were rare, and tended to be bigger, pricier, and not get the fuel consumption I wanted out of a hybrid. So my high-profile Tacoma can deal with snow, at least until it gets higher than a foot, which is rare. It deals with ice. The 4 cyl engine gets better mileage than a larger SUV would, and can still haul feed and wood. I think it will take me another 10 years; I hope some reasonably priced, efficient vehicles for rural dwellers will be out there then.

[MerryBlooms]

44. I drive a 2000 Accord, 2 door, manual tran, awesome sound system, 95,000 on her.

I love my car. Just like you, drove a new car and the only thing I really appreciated was the heated seat. lol I have no desire for a new car yet. Although, I kind of like the idea of the nav systems, but I don't really drive much these days and no big cities anymore.