PLUG-INS, ROBOT CARS, AND CAR-SHARES

The Virtuous Cycle Between Driverless Cars, Electric Vehicles And Car-Sharing Services

Chunka Mai, February 8, 2016 (Forbes)

“…[Tesla’s] Elon Musk spends so much time musing about driverless cars…[for] the same reason that General Motors announced its $500 million investment in Lyft just days before CEO Mary Barra unveiled the new Chevy Bolt and, a few weeks later, bought the assets of Sidecar, the failed car-sharing innovator…It is [also] why Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, poached 40 top scientists and researchers from Carnegie Mellon University to develop Uber’s own driverless capabilities…[and] why, in addition to its massive effort to build driverless cars, Google almost bought Tesla, invested more than $250 million in Uber—and why Google’s relationship with Uber soured…These moves are part of the strategic gamesmanship underway in the colliding automotive and technology ecosystems. Numerous players are jockeying for position at the confluence of driverless cars, electric vehicles and car sharing…A virtuous cycle, however, links them…Each has the potential to reinforce the others and, together, massively disrupt the technology and business of personal mobility…[D]riverless taxis could operate at as little as 20% of the cost of individual car ownership…Some industry insiders estimate that mobility service business models could sustain driverless cars costing as much as $250,000-300,000…” click here for more

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