My Eco Talk Four

Thinking Two Steps Ahead: The Future of Mobility

Jeffrey Joh takes us back and explains how the world has changed and how school children commute via Uber, unlike his time where there was no bus or Uber, and one must have had a car.

Car ownership rates are declining; after 2016, we hit a tipping point, where a quarter of Americans are not replacing the cars they sell. The shift from ownership to sharing is happening. But what’s next?

The world is charging, and startups are already happening. For instance, Uber is giant, very gigantic. So more intelligent people are trying to create future technologies by building self-driving technologies like better senses, better software etc.

And Jeffrey agrees that self-driving cars will take over the world quickly, starting with cars, trucks, trains, eventually delivery. But what’s the next balance after the car?

We have to name every industry that stands to be affected; maybe its construction, power, finance, or the hotels. What do we do with all these parking lots being left? Perhaps we should build denser cities. But maybe the town will grow bigger and spread out.

Maybe most homes will be powered by renewable energy thanks to self-driving cars. The most significant barrier to renewable power currently is the lack of storage capacity.

Experts are calling Tesla a battery on wheels, and it’s is expected to be the primary power capacity for power on the grid. Since the sun and the wind doesn’t function at our own will, we have the potential to catalyze renewable energy with self-driving cars.

And most people predict that self-driving cars are 50% safer than human drivers meaning the eighth cause of death on the planet could be eliminated. So what happens to hospitals relying on the source of revenue, the number of billions we underwrite every year to automobile insurance?

The current job industry supports most high-paying jobs that don’t necessarily have a degree. Where will the auto-mechanics, the auto-insurance, train operators, etc., when their jobs are changed? Will they need a college degree? Will you need a Ph.D. to work at MacDonald’s? It’s already hard to find an appointment with a Ph.D. in Philosophy, and it’s not going to be accessible any time soon.

For instance, at the Macdonalds, most milkshakes are sold in the morning to drivers since you as a driver cannot eat the burger and the muffin while driving. What happens to people relying on the sale of milkshakes, dairy farmers, milk transporters, etc.?

The world changes fast. For instance, in 1905, the New York City traffic jam was filled with horses, which didn’t exist ten years later.

Bottom Line

The self-driving car will change where you take your milk change, where we make babies, your house, the White House, and fast, and the effects will be the fascinating ones.