$549/mo lease on a Tesla model 3 + $199/mo for FSD could surely buy a lot of Uber/Lyft rides -- with the added benefit that you could drive drunk and don't need a parking space.
In my own car, I have privacy... I can drive immediately rather than having to call one in advance... I can leave stuff in the car, play my own music, go up into the mountains, etc.
I see there are advantages to Uber, but for most people, if ignoring all financial considerations, owning your own car wins in a lot of cases.
The closer you live to the city the cost of land increases, so for those living real close to the city having a parking space they own or even have the right to use is not always a given.
And even if you do, the space often increases the cost of the home which is a cost you can recoup if giving up the car.
The car needs to be “somewhere” when it’s not in use by you. Elons plan is that is once the car is fully autonomous it can be out earning you money as an auto taxi (doubt that would be a thing where I live, at least not right away, the only way Uber is allowed to operate here is by only allowing drivers who are already licensed taxi drivers).
So it will always be a time - cost trade off. The closer the car is parked near you, the less time you will have to wait for it to be summoned, however the closer the car is parked to you the more it will cost you in parking charges. If you are pimping out your own car as an auto taxi you might be making money while your having fun with friends but you might have to wait an hour for your own car if it just started giving some a ride home, they don’t want to pool even though they live just half a mile from your home.
IMO keeping an empty car moving just so you avoid parking fee's is fucking nuts. Not only are you tying up road space, you are wasting energy keeping the cars looping.
Even airports don't keep bags looping on the conveyor belts during a layover, they stow them somewhere. For example Heathrow has something called "the early bag store" where they store bags https://youtu.be/WXF0uYdILGc?t=461
Reduced need to actually own a car, and fewer cars on the road (or parked) as empty car capacity can be fully utilised. Of course the lifespan of an individual vehicle will be reduced.
Cars mostly spend their time in parking lots, but that also mostly happens at the same times and in the same locations.
Also, I fear people will still care it is _their_ car. If not, what will replace it as a status symbol? Being able to summon a nicer ride might, but if we’re going to stratify self-driving cars, utilization will go down further.
Is there a point to discussing hypothetical futures like that?