Currently, it looks like persons are spending lots of time pondering what society will probably 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 admire that there have been many articles (like this one and this one) that current a number of the societal shifts that might occur on account of this pandemic and I figured I’d take it a step farther and see what it would imply within the driverless business. Listed below are a number of the huge tendencies (related to driverless automobiles) that I’m seeing:
- Automobile gross sales are shifting to a web-based market (hyperlink right here);
- Purchasing for groceries, garments, and the whole lot else is massively shifting on-line, which is decreasing our particular person automotive possession, however placing heavy reliance on items supply (hyperlink right here);
- Since workplaces are encouraging working remotely, purchasing has largely shifted on-line, and most public locations are closed, persons are driving a lot much less (hyperlink right here);
- Individuals are scared to trip public transit and take shared rides as a result of shut proximity to others (link right here);
Whereas many of those modifications 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 automobiles? It’s clear persons are looking forward to the driverless supply of products, which is a superb alternative for constructing shopper acceptance for driverless automobiles, normally. And this huge discount in automobile miles traveled (VMT) is reminding folks of a cleaner, safer world – may this create longer-term impacts? Higher environmental insurance policies? Alternatively, this doesn’t bode nicely for shared, driverless rides – although I’m hopeful this isn’t a long-term influence.
I hope our society will be considerate about how we re-open our society…not simply with reference to 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 automobiles – how can we get there? Encourage shared rides, incentivize electrical automobile utilization, create supportive driverless laws, discourage single occupancy automobile utilization (and automobile possession, normally), and proceed to reveal and talk driverless automobile success tales. Whereas the expertise continues to be superior, these are all necessary foundational components.
