The Coming Zombie Robot Driving Apocalypse of You

Generali

I suspect a lot of it is simply fear of change. I also suspect that people will demand that driverless cars are close to 100% safe, as safe as flying or catching the train.

cells

Generali wrote: »

Your sums don't add up. $1,000 in fuel for cars x 3,500,000,000 cars = $3,500,000,000,000 yet the total cost of fossil fuels is $2,500,000,000,000...?

Interesting that more people are interested in arguing the toss about a referendum that the SNP already lost than talking about the coming zombie driving apocalypse. I thought I had come up with a 'click bait' headline there and would be getting millions of Daily Mail readers on here explaining how immigration would speed the zombie driving apocalypse or that Princess Di would have stopped it by increasing house prices.

Its an estinate rather than a figure that needs ti be accurate to the pound

Anyway, oil now is $50 but cars don't work off cryde oil they work off refined petrol and diesel and the cost to convert oil to that is quite high. I believe the cost from benchmark oil to petrol in your tank is aroubd $40/barrel equivalent (so even if crude was $0 petrol would not ve $0)

so you could say. A car will use $50 less oil and $25 less oil refining and and $5 less oil transporting and $2 less petrol station overheads and.....etc etc or just lumo them all together as 'less fuel'


Anyway if you assume 10,000 miles and 33mpg (USA gallons) you get 300 gallons thatbcost some $600. So yes a saving of $1000 fuel was too high its probably closer to $300 a car x 3.5B cars = just over $1 trillion

that $1 trillion is nit $1 trillion in fuel saving but just for example 50% for fuel 3p for refining 20% for other overheads

Generali

cells wrote: »

Its an estinate rather than a figure that needs ti be accurate to the pound

Anyway, oil now is $50 but cars don't work off cryde oil they work off refined petrol and diesel and the cost to convert oil to that is quite high. I believe the cost from benchmark oil to petrol in your tank is aroubd $40/barrel equivalent (so even if crude was $0 petrol would not ve $0)

so you could say. A car will use $50 less oil and $25 less oil refining and and $5 less oil transporting and $2 less petrol station overheads and.....etc etc or just lumo them all together as 'less fuel'


Anyway if you assume 10,000 miles and 33mpg (USA gallons) you get 300 gallons thatbcost some $600. So yes a saving of $1000 fuel was too high its probably closer to $300 a car x 3.5B cars = just over $1 trillion

that $1 trillion is nit $1 trillion in fuel saving but just for example 50% for fuel 3p for refining 20% for other overheads

Fair enough.

Whatever the savings, the Zombie Driving Apocalypse is going to mean huge changes for us all.

purch

michaels wrote: »

I can't see any downsides.

My i-phone is completely knackered since the last update to 8.1.3.

I hope apple don't try to get into this market :eek:

Generali

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/apple-employee-well-give-tesla-a-run-for-its-money-2015-2

'Hello Siri, I'd like to go to Lancester'
'Where in Leicester would you like to go'
'Aaaargh'
'Argyle Street in Leicester. Do you have a street number?'
'Just f$%# off'
'Fox and Hounds, Argyle St, Leicester. Estimated cost £0.01-£103.86'.

bugslet

michaels wrote: »

The BBC HYS on automatic cars was almost exclusively negative, I was really surprised as I can't see any downsides.

I really like driving. When I bought the VX, one of the selling factors was that it actually felt like driving rather than just pointing something in the right direction and sitting there.

Generali

bugslet wrote: »

I really like driving. When I bought the VX, one of the selling factors was that it actually felt like driving rather than just pointing something in the right direction and sitting there.

I do too but the most likely outcome of the Zombie Robot Driving Apocalypse is that insurance costs for those in Zombie Robot cars will be low and those in driven cars will be high.

My guess is that driven cars will end up as a toy for us old people. Something to be taken out on the weekend and driven to a lunch with friends. It'll simply be too expensive to drive a regular car as you won't have enough people to share the risk with.

michaels

bugslet wrote: »

I really like driving. When I bought the VX, one of the selling factors was that it actually felt like driving rather than just pointing something in the right direction and sitting there.

So I guess there is the fear that a bit like smoking, even those who choose to drive will not be allowed too because 'self-driving' is much higher risk than 'auto-driving'.

I very occasionally enjoy driving, but generally it is a chore when I would rather use the time doing other things. Perhaps living in urban SE means that the ratio of enjoyable driving to chore driving is extremely low?

antrobus

cells wrote: »

...Anyway, oil now is $50 but cars don't work off cryde oil they work off refined petrol and diesel and the cost to convert oil to that is quite high. I believe the cost from benchmark oil to petrol in your tank is aroubd $40/barrel equivalent (so even if crude was $0 petrol would not ve $0)....

Apparently not.

The cost of refining is about 1.5p per litre. Which is the equivalent of less than $4 a barrel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15462923

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

I do too but the most likely outcome of the Zombie Robot Driving Apocalypse is that insurance costs for those in Zombie Robot cars will be low and those in driven cars will be high.....

And so the question would be; what is the cost of a Zombie Robot car, and will the saving on insurance costs pay for it?

There does not appear to be a definitive answer to this question. However one source does suggest they might be rather pricey;

according to a well-informed startup founder working on similar technology, the massive array of sensors Google has to install in its cars alone costs $250,000 or more. Add that to the $45,000 retail price of the Lexus RX450h cars it's modifying, add in some other custom components, and you get a car that costs more than $300,000

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-self-driving-car-sensor-cost-2012

No doubt, as with all tech, there would be an expectation that mass production combined with the thirst for profit will drive these costs down. But one imagines that it is the Zombie Robot cars that will initially be regarded as 'toys'.