The end of personal car ownership

[RallyeMike]

Execs at Lyft say the end is nigh for personal car ownership. I doubt anyone here agrees, but the article is interesting nonetheless.

https://www.businessinsider.com/carpocalypse-cars-automobile-sales-data-us-europe-2019-3

[BLK 68 R/T]

Just how do they expect people who don't live in major areas to get anywhere? No I didn't read the article, cause it would just irritate me 

[odcics2]

Whoever invents the "transporter" will be a trillionaire.

Imagine, plugging in the coordinates and hitting a button.   

Instantly "there".

Just hope nobody pulls "a Fly"!   

[Kern Dog]

Just how do they expect people who don't live in major areas to get anywhere? No I didn't read the article, cause it would just irritate me 

Same here. I have found that while I don't want to live with my head in the sand, it is worse to listen to all the stupidity coming from Liberal and Socialist programs and policies. You have to shut it out sometimes.

[DAY CLONA]

Just how do they expect people who don't live in major areas to get anywhere? No I didn't read the article, cause it would just irritate me 

Same here. I have found that while I don't want to live with my head in the sand, it is worse to listen to all the stupidity coming from Liberal and Socialist programs and policies. You have to shut it out sometimes.

You can't when you voted it in.......

[Kern Dog]

I do not support any of the dumb ass Liberal propositions or Politicians. NONE.

[Mike DC]

  
The source is the founders of a ride-sharing app.  They are basically advertising their product with a study.  


Imagine if Boeing put out a prediction that airline travel will increase in the next few years.  Oh yeah, that's totally Socialism.  Libtards in action.



(As for the car prediction itself:  Remember when horses learned to walk themselves, and then private horse ownership quickly came to an end?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKiiyI2T04s
                       

[Aero426]

News sites on the web suck up an incredible amount of content to run.    And a lot of it is crap and drivel such as this.

When you want to go hunting in the north woods, are you going to take your plug-in electric pickup or maybe ride share a Lyft?      I didn't think so.  

Ride sharing might be able to work in urban areas where a person can walk or bike where they need to go.    It won't work for most people who live real lives outside the big city.    

[green69rt]

News sites on the web suck up an incredible amount of content to run.    And a lot of it is crap and drivel such as this.

When you want to go hunting in the north woods, are you going to take your plug-in electric pickup or maybe ride share a Lyft?      I didn't think so.  

Ride sharing might be able to work in urban areas where a person can walk or bike where they need to go.    It won't work for most people who live real lives outside the big city.    

And, currently it won't work for most people living in the burbs and working in the city center, we also have to drive 3 miles to the grocery store, etc, etc, etc.  A LOT of things would have to change and cities would have to be rebuilt so people could get around without cars.  Not going to happen. 

Now I take Uber now and then because I don't want to drive drunk or the place I'm going has $60 (Houston Rodeo) parking but I still travel mostly in my car.

[BLK 68 R/T]

I do not support any of the dumb ass Liberal propositions or Politicians. NONE.

Same.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

I can see where many city dwellers don't need cars, but the rest of us regular folk in the dreaded suburbs and rural areas need cars. What will power cars and how many will be self driving 50 years from now remains to be seen, but I surely won't be around to find out.

[odcics2]

I can see where many city dwellers don't need cars, but the rest of us regular folk in the dreaded suburbs and rural areas need cars. What will power cars and how many will be self driving 50 years from now remains to be seen, but I surely won't be around to find out.

Hey, Korean Kim might use us for target practice, making this thread a moot point.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Hey, Korean Kim might use us for target practice, making this thread a moot point.

[RallyeMike]

   Never mind.

[Ponch ®]

I can see where many city dwellers don't need cars, but the rest of us regular folk in the dreaded suburbs and rural areas need cars. What will power cars and how many will be self driving 50 years from now remains to be seen, but I surely won't be around to find out.

Hey, Korean Kim might use us for target practice, making this thread a moot point.

Its ok, hes a good guy now.

[Troy]

I can't read that article because I don't really feel like disabling my ad blocker or paying money on that site. However, I had to go to our corporate offices in Chicago for work. At dinner with a bunch of coworkers we had a similar conversation - but slightly broader because they were fawning over Elon Musk's autonomous cars. Regardless of whether it makes sense or if people would love it... think of the logistics of changing what we currently have. How many decades would this take to phase in? The resources don't exist. The technology doesn't exist. People have been predicting the death of the combustion engine since (at least) the 70s. Before I could even drive.

Troy

[Birdflu]

Regardless of whether it makes sense or if people would love it... think of the logistics of changing what we currently have. How many decades would this take to phase in? The resources don't exist. The technology doesn't exist. People have been predicting the death of the combustion engine since (at least) the 70s. Before I could even drive.

Troy

I couldn't agree more! 

[alfaitalia]

It's happening here (death of the internal combustion engine that is)....not immediately..but from 2042 it will be illegal to sell or buy a new car powered by petrol or diesel...so that basically leaves electric. Obviously we will still be able to drive the current ones until they die...but no new ones. In a small country like ours it's easily done...would take a lot more effort and much better batteries in a country as massive as the U.S.!  People who don't like proper cars are leading the way and we will be at about 10% of the UK car market being electric but the middle of this year...someway behind Norway where 39% of new car sales are electric...and that's full electric cars so does not include that hybrid crap like the Prius (worst of both Worlds in my opinion). So by 2042 there will probably be a mostly electric population of cars on UK roads anyway . I'm not too worried...I'll be 85 by then! And before you say about the added pollution from power stations from all the car charging..well we are already on about 50% renewable power ( mainly wind...bit of solar) here anyway so should not be an issue by then.

[Birdflu]

Obviously we will still be able to drive the current ones until they die...but no new ones.

I wouldn't be so sure about that! If they can truly ban the sale of any vehicle with an internal combustion engine, they could easily outlaw pre-existing ones. Anyway, in a world like that, I can only imagine what the price of a gallon of fuel will cost, let alone how the rest of the 'sheep' will feel when we take our dirty cars out for a drive!   

[alfaitalia]

Historically we have never had car laws applied retrospectively and they say it will be the same this time. If we did we would not be allowed to drive old cars without seat belts etc and old high polluting diesels and smoky old petrols!! It will be a not issue by then anyway as most or the "sheep" will be in electric long before then....who will want to buy a car that will be pretty much worthless after the switch.

.....as far as the cost of fuel....surely its a supply and demand thing.....less demand...cheaper prices! That's how it works with most thing anyway! Yeah....hopeful I know.

[Mike DC]

   
Battery tech is still a long way from making a viable electric-powered F-250.  Gasoline is gonna be around for a while in the USA. 

Electrics are probably gonna take over the urban centers though.  They are just better suited to that.  Short ranges and lots of stop-n-go traffic.  They say the math is already starting to favor electrics for compact cars.  That's even with stupid-cheap US gas prices. 

[LaOtto70Charger]

I thought the article though was about people not buying cars for personal long term ownership. More like leasing.  I kind of read the article but it was different than what I had read about in the past.  When I first heard about a similar program you would pay a monthly subscription to use a car.  The service covers all repairs and maintenance.  No more waiting for oil changes, or paying a hundreds of dollars for a tires.  It kind of worked like a lease where you had a primary vehicle but you could also change it every so often.  So if normally just drive short distances you could have a small commuter but want to drive cross country change out to a large sedan for a couple weeks.  Trade for a pickup on the weekend to move furniture, etc...  Don't need a vehicle for six months just cancel the subscription. 

May not be for many people could be interesting option for a lot.

As for electric cars and trucks duty cycle makes a huge difference on how viable.  Which even there things are changing fast.  Last year for work I went to China twice.  We took a lot of taxis and their version of Uber/Lyft.  At least 30% of the time the cars were electric.  Same if not more with the buses, and scooters.  My first trip their was back in 2011.  Everything was gas powered and smokey.
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/electric-buses-and-trucks-charge-ahead

[Troy]

I thought the article though was about people not buying cars for personal long term ownership. More like leasing.  I kind of read the article but it was different than what I had read about in the past.  When I first heard about a similar program you would pay a monthly subscription to use a car.  The service covers all repairs and maintenance.  No more waiting for oil changes, or paying a hundreds of dollars for a tires.  It kind of worked like a lease where you had a primary vehicle but you could also change it every so often.  So if normally just drive short distances you could have a small commuter but want to drive cross country change out to a large sedan for a couple weeks.  Trade for a pickup on the weekend to move furniture, etc...  Don't need a vehicle for six months just cancel the subscription. 

May not be for many people could be interesting option for a lot.

As for electric cars and trucks duty cycle makes a huge difference on how viable.  Which even there things are changing fast.  Last year for work I went to China twice.  We took a lot of taxis and their version of Uber/Lyft.  At least 30% of the time the cars were electric.  Same if not more with the buses, and scooters.  My first trip their was back in 2011.  Everything was gas powered and smokey.
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/electric-buses-and-trucks-charge-ahead

Well, now I can read the article...

I have coworkers who basically time share a car in Chicago. They only use it to get groceries so just a few hours a month. They ride a bike or take the train everywhere else. In the city, people mostly use public transportation or taxis already so this isn't a terrible stretch. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, it's just not that convenient. It can easily take 35-45 minutes for me to find an Uber. For a quick trip to the store or the kid's soccer practice I highly doubt people will be dependent on (or deal with the hassle of) tansportation services.

Interesting thought though, don't Lyft and Uber drivers use their own vehicles? That's kind of the point - it removes the "fleet" ownership from the company providing the service. So someone will still have to own cars even if the rest of us hitch a ride.

Troy

[RallyeMike]

I found the data and theories pretty interesting reading. There is a huge societal change talking place here where I live which is probably why. Downtown used to be the place you went to work and now it's condoville. If it fits your lifestyle and you plan it right, you can live here comfortably without a car. Same as in Chicago, many of my co-workers and a few of our friends don't own cars and they do just fine - they even prefer it. Just as Otto70 Charger noted about China, they are gearing up to install EV charging stations everywhere here and are even talking about tolling the City streets as they do in London simply to discourage personal driving.

[alfaitalia]

Yes....here in London (the UK one!) many people dont bother with cars. Public transport is frequent and reliable.....unlike most other places in the UK where its not so reliable or may not exist at all......and fuel is very expensive here...made much worse when driving in central London traffic with and average speed now of less than in Victorian times when there were only horses! ....parking in central London is stupidly expensive ($50 a day plus is not uncommon)....there is next to no on street parking for non residents ....and now to go along with the congestion charge (which we have had for many years) there will be a low emissions zone (mainly central London which penalises the heavy polluters even more)! On the few times I have to go to the "Big Smoke"....i usually go by train....works out cheaper and faster overall. Several other big UK cities are looking like they are going to follow suit.....glad I live in the country!