Autovista Intelligence quoting Juniper Research:
Initial demand is expected to be focused on car sharing because it will take time for consumers to adapt to purchasing driverless cars for their personal use.
I think we have seen really amazing adoption curves recently, eg. on iPhone or iPad. It will be a question of price but also how convenient the technology is in the end.
European governments yesterday agreed to increase the share of electric vehicles (EVs) on their fleets as part of a global deal that could lead to orders for up to 300,000 EVs by 2020.
The Government Fleet Declaration was signed by France, Norway, Sweden and the UK as well as Canada, China, Japan and the US.
Germany is an interesting omission in that. And, I wonder how much that constitutes of the total governmental car park in those countries.
Tom Randall for Bloomberg Technology on Tesla’s recent SolarCity acquisition:
Tesla isn’t just a car company looking to buy a solar company. It’s also a battery company that wants to link its two biggest markets: energy supply (solar) with energy demand (electric cars).
And later, citing BNEF estimates:
By 2020, Tesla is aiming to bring the cost of battery packs down to about $100 per kWh—from an industry average of $1,000 in 2010
Me thinks, if a single company can connect the dots – between clean energy production, storage, re-selling excess, and usage – it will be hugely successful.
Not too long ago I joined a 2-day excursion through the Rein valley to Germany’s highest peak, the Zugspitze.
The experience and the views were amazing. And, while the trails were listed as medium difficulty they did take their toll on my shoes. There’s no knowing what I would have done without the 20 or so meters of duct tape that went into fixing my junky old boots…
The Oatmeal:
All the self-driving cars currently on the road learn from one another, and each car now collectively possesses 40 years of driving experience. And this technology is still in its infancy.
Nice article on why autonomous cars will matter a great deal.