It will create group of hyper-commuters who travel to work longer than it standard today because it will become slightly more convenient. Nothing I'm looking forward to.
It wouldn't be as bad if cars become fully electrified and cars become smaller as they shift from individual car ownership (where you buy a 4-5 seater for edge cases but only use 1-2 seats 95% of the time).
When you order your automated fleet car to pick you up you can say I only need one seat, which will massively reduce car sizes and energy expenditures.
Self driving cars can potentially link up like trains on highways to further reduce congestion and reduce energy use.
On the other hand I could see people whose commutes are 30 minutes tolerating a 1 hour self driving commute especially if it means they are paying 1/2 their rent.
I will never understand how people do this... especially so many of them without car pooling, which means they have to focus the whole time.
I'd easily trade those hours for 100% the rent costs and half the living space.
I have to imagine that there are extenuating circumstances that force people into these absurd commutes.
Self driving cars will be life changing. They can’t come soon enough.
Thus the reduced need for car ownership and all that parking that is now on the market for redevelopment should lower the cost of living in cities which is a huge deterrent that keeps people out right now.
I imagine that there will be some flux in both directions, with the less desirable suburbs being the losers in that equation.
If I was a long-term real estate developer I'd be buying up a bunch of urban parking lots and converting them into charging stations. Then selling a stock of them to Tesla/Uber in 5-10yrs at a high mark-up.
Apartment/grocery stores/office/etc buildings with underground parking could technically lease out their land as well.
It would still very likely free up far more land than is needed for charging, as so much parking space is used for far longer than the average charging/waiting-for-fleet-calls would need. Not to mention the AI space optimization they would utilize.
More like every 400-500km. Even current electric cars generally have ranges in the 350km+ range, and they're getting better every generation. Unless my work provides me free charging, I'll be charging at home where my electricity is supplied by my solar panels.
That means in an urban environment they'll be able to drive for quite a long time before charging... that's interesting as it means even less real estate needed for charging.
The implications of this technology on daily life in the next decade will be nearly as interesting as the deployment of consumer internet in the 1990s. There are so many possibilities, it's very exciting...
[0] https://solarchargeddriving.com/2011/05/13/whats-your-gasoli...
Seems like there will be plenty of fungibility in charge locations.