Recently, it looks as if persons are spending quite a lot 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 recognize that there have been many articles (like this one and this one) that current a few of the societal shifts that would 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 few of the massive tendencies (related to driverless autos) that I’m seeing:
- Automotive gross sales are shifting to an internet market (hyperlink right here);
- Purchasing for groceries, garments, and every thing else is massively shifting on-line, which is decreasing our particular person automobile 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);
- 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 modifications are out of necessity at present, it’s very potential that they may instill long-term change. So what does this imply for driverless autos? It’s clear persons are longing for the driverless supply of products, which is a good alternative for constructing shopper acceptance for driverless autos, basically. 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 effectively for shared, driverless rides – although I’m hopeful this isn’t a long-term influence.
I hope our society might be considerate about how we re-open our society…not simply on the subject of 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 will we get there? Encourage shared rides, incentivize electrical car utilization, create supportive driverless rules, discourage single occupancy car utilization (and car possession, basically), and proceed to reveal and talk driverless car success tales. Whereas the expertise continues to be superior, these are all necessary foundational components.
