Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArcher101
I keep thinking of one aspect. What will happen to the big car manufacturers?
With driving cars, you would no longer need big engine options or things of that nature. Primary just comfort items would be options, such as leather vs cloth. This will no doubt remove the complexity of car manufacturing. Will style even matter at that point, if everyone is driving at the same pace like robots, with their head down in their tablet/book reader? So if cars turn more generic, will the industry be decimated?
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I think (though I sure as hell don't know) that even self-driving cars will have different performance characteristics just like cars do now. Acceleration, for example - an expensive self-drive with a powerful engine will get you up to speed faster even if you aren't hitting the gas yourself. Nobody needs to go 0-60 in 4 seconds now, but they pay a premium for the "option" and more importantly for other people to see they can pay that premium. And no doubt they'll sell that kind of speed as some sort of "accident avoidance ability" or something.
Style and status will always matter too. A self-driving S500 will always be cooler than a self-driving Smart Car. And the gearheads are really going to lose their #### when someone converts a '69 Camaro into a self-driving car.