Self driving campervans

[Amarillo]

It is possible that we are on the cusp of a new motoring revolution, or evolution of the current motoring revolution, which started with the Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896.

Self drive cars are just beginning to arrive in a few locations around the world.

How might this alter private ownership of campervans such as the California?

 

[Velma's Dad]

Given the long lifespan of our Calis (I was just looking at the superb Westies from the early 1990s on another thread), that's a very good question...

Just from background reading I gather that there's some consensus that the autonomous vehicle (AV) sector is likely to cluster at least initially around urban contexts, and along a service-based rather than ownership model (eg AV taxis). Under those assumptions, privately-owned conventional vehicles will continue to be owned and used in parallel - by a gradually shrinking proportion of the population.

So some people might continue to own a conventionally driven leisure vehicle (like a Cali, of course, or some other kind of fun car) while making increasingly heavy use of an AV on a service basis for their day-to-day transport.

An interesting factor as I read was that the cost differential (in favour, eventually, of AV vehicles) will be the lower insurance costs.

 

[calicasas]

Self driving cars will revolutionise driving - just think.. We can just send them back for warranty repairs almost from the comfort of our sofas...

 

[Amarillo]

Given the long lifespan of our Calis (I was just looking at the superb Westies from the early 1990s on another thread), that's a very good question...

At the moment, we are used to driving to our destination then sleeping. Perhaps, in the future, we will sleep to our destination, then wake.

 

[Hotel California]

No fun at all , i like driving ....at least to holliday destinations!

 

[Bramco]

HC. You should test drive a Tesla (and yes I know about the recent crash in Baarn).

The drive is truly exhilarating, ridiculous acceleration and very smooth with the active suspension.

When we drove one recently I pointed out that the base would make for an extremely versatile camper van. Don't see them doing that soon, but on our recent trip we've seen a lot of VWs tethered to charging stations, so just maybe in a few years VW will add electric as an option to the van.

Tesla just announced a 100kWh battery with a range of 300+ miles. I'm sure you could get a larger battery in a van base, so ranges of 400 miles should be achievable.

We would be first in the queue for one.

 

[Hotel California]

Electric campervans ....yes .
Selfdriving campervans ...no , as any selfdriving car ....no .
It will not work imo. There are to many other factors involved in driving , if they can create a seperate network of roads only for selfdriving verhicles it can work , otherwise ...no.
Drove a Opel Ampera 100% electric as we got sevral " inviremental friendly" cars at work ( on gas/fuel , full electric , electric/ fuel) , it drove realy nice....wierd but nice....you need to get used to it.

 

[Amarillo]

So some people might continue to own a conventionally driven leisure vehicle (like a Cali, of course, or some other kind of fun car) while making increasingly heavy use of an AV on a service basis for their day-to-day transport.

I can see self-drive motor vehicles eventually being banned from public roads. If auto-drive is two or three times safer, why would governments accept the ridiculous death and life-changing injury toll on our roads. Land transport accidents are the leading cause of death in British 5-19 year olds (a tiny minority of which are non-motor vehicle related).

I think that private ownership of motor vehicles will fall, as people realise they can book a motor vehicle, and for a premium, summon a vehicle at short notice - furthermore, they will be able to book their vehicle according to their needs: Smart type cars for individual people, family cars for families and sleepers for longer journeys. Cycling will become even safer, and people will own pedal bikes and electric bikes and use them as utility vehicles for short journeys. Trains, outside of large cities, will fade and railways go the same way as canals.

Enthusiasts, and the wealthy, will still own their own auto-drive vehicles. And specialist auto drive vehicles, like campervans, will still largely remain in private ownership.

Self-drive events, like the Veteran car run, will remain on roads temporarily closed to auto-drive traffic.

 

[bigmac77]

It will start with self driving farm machinery such as tractors ploughing fields, who needs a driver when you are just going up and down a field in straight lines (this may already be in use I don't know). It will spread to other non road based uses, then as the technology becomes refined and more socially acceptable it may then spread to public road use.

There are many ethical problems with this firstly lots of people are going to loose their jobs and secondly if you picture the scenario a self driving vehicle is faced with the choice of either crashing into another vehicle or swerving and hitting a pedestrian or pedestrians what does it do? Of course the choice will already be decided by whoever programmed the vehicle. The choice may be made simply on the basis of whichever outcome keeps the self driven vehicle occupants safest.

Just my rambling thoughts on the subject.

 

[Npf1]

Given that 30 years after the intro of the mobile phone, there's still only around 67% of the geographical area with decent coverage, I doubt there's any need to worry about self driving camper vans running around the highlands for a while yet.

Most 'tech revolutions' are a slow creep rather than a massive change in a short space of time.

 

[Hotel California]

@bigmac77 , in your case :
if on your beautifull pitchfield the grass is mowed by a robot ....how on earth are you gonna fill your days... You can't read the newspaper twice it would become boring!
Wouldn't it be better , a robot bringin' the kids to school while you are mowing the grass?

 

[briwy]

I agree with Hotel California. I enjoy driving, generally, and would be bored stiff if some computer was doing it for me.
Specific roads for AVs. Well that's called a train isn't it?
Safety. To say they are safer at this stage is ludicrous. There are so few of them around that it's impossible to make a comparison.
Personally I just don't get this seeming compulsion to use more and more technology and letting machines take over our lives.
Can't see insurance being cheaper either. The costs after an accident will be horrendous. Both in paying for repairs and any possible injury costs.
Back to my cave and MGB.

 

[DavidofHook]

I can see self-drive motor vehicles eventually being banned from public roads. If auto-drive is two or three times safer, why would governments accept the ridiculous death and life-changing injury toll on our roads. Land transport accidents are the leading cause of death in British 5-19 year olds (a tiny minority of which are non-motor vehicle related).

I think that private ownership of motor vehicles will fall, as people realise they can book a motor vehicle, and for a premium, summon a vehicle at short notice - furthermore, they will be able to book their vehicle according to their needs: Smart type cars for individual people, family cars for families and sleepers for longer journeys. Cycling will become even safer, and people will own pedal bikes and electric bikes and use them as utility vehicles for short journeys. Trains, outside of large cities, will fade and railways go the same way as canals.

Enthusiasts, and the wealthy, will still own their own auto-drive vehicles. And specialist auto drive vehicles, like campervans, will still largely remain in private ownership.

Self-drive events, like the Veteran car run, will remain on roads temporarily closed to auto-drive traffic.

I agree about the possibility of banning from public roads.
Adelaide has (possibly now had) a self drive bus. It had a driver who drove it while on public roads but the main part of the journey was on a 'private' specially constructed track and the duty of the driver then was limited to keeping his foot on the accelerator. The track was quite wide but U shaped at the edges extending up about 4'. The bus had small rubber tried wheels on the side which turned when it came into contact with the side. It was a serious project, it carried passengers for quite some distance .
This was in 2003 so it may not be running now.

 

[Ethel's dad]

I agree about the possibility of banning from public roads.
Adelaide has (possibly now had) a self drive bus. It had a driver who drove it while on public roads but the main part of the journey was on a 'private' specially constructed track and the duty of the driver then was limited to keeping his foot on the accelerator. The track was quite wide but U shaped at the edges extending up about 4'. The bus had small rubber tried wheels on the side which turned when it came into contact with the side. It was a serious project, it carried passengers for quite some distance .
This was in 2003 so it may not be running now.

Sounds very much like the Cambridge guided bus service. It has been running successfully for a number of years.

 

[Keith Smith]

I think the self drive system fitted to the Tesla could be an enormous boon for older drivers who find motorways challenging but are happy to drive round smaller roads. I appreciate there has been a crash where the system seems to be at fault but I have also seen a video where a car suddenly came across the carriageway straight for the Tesla and the Tesla avoided it and everybody else, amazing really when you think how these things have developed so quickly.

 

[bigmac77]

@bigmac77 , in your case :
if on your beautifull pitchfield the grass is mowed by a robot ....how on earth are you gonna fill your days... You can't read the newspaper twice it would become boring!
Wouldn't it be better , a robot bringin' the kids to school while you are mowing the grass?

We saw a robot lawn mower in action whilst in France it was only in a house garden but it was doing a good job.

I would go fishing.

 

[Amarillo]

Most 'tech revolutions' are a slow creep rather than a massive change in a short space of time.

Consider the personal computer. It certainly was a very slow creep to begin with, Amstrad, Sinclair and BBC. But then... whoosh... private ownership exploded. Same with fixed line phones, then mobile phones, and soon after smart phones (which are both phones and personal computers). TVs, washing machines, vacuum cleaners.

 

[WelshGas]

I can see self-drive motor vehicles eventually being banned from public roads. If auto-drive is two or three times safer, why would governments accept the ridiculous death and life-changing injury toll on our roads. Land transport accidents are the leading cause of death in British 5-19 year olds (a tiny minority of which are non-motor vehicle related).

I think that private ownership of motor vehicles will fall, as people realise they can book a motor vehicle, and for a premium, summon a vehicle at short notice - furthermore, they will be able to book their vehicle according to their needs: Smart type cars for individual people, family cars for families and sleepers for longer journeys. Cycling will become even safer, and people will own pedal bikes and electric bikes and use them as utility vehicles for short journeys. Trains, outside of large cities, will fade and railways go the same way as canals.

Enthusiasts, and the wealthy, will still own their own auto-drive vehicles. And specialist auto drive vehicles, like campervans, will still largely remain in private ownership.

Self-drive events, like the Veteran car run, will remain on roads temporarily closed to auto-drive traffic.

No more Organ Transplants or at least very few. Unless of course the Western Countries depend on the 3rd World countries unable to implement such a transport system to provide the Donor Organs. So the Unexpected Consequences of such an implementation raises its head.

 

[Velma's Dad]

I

No more Organ Transplants or at least very few. Unless of course the Western Countries depend on the 3rd World countries unable to implement such a transport system to provide the Donor Organs. So the Unexpected Consequences of such an implementation raises its head.

I forsee many unforseen consequences... (Sir Humphrey, Yes Minister)

 

[Peter Horvath]

Electric campervans ....yes .
Selfdriving campervans ...no , as any selfdriving car ....no .
It will not work imo. There are to many other factors involved in driving , if they can create a seperate network of roads only for selfdriving verhicles it can work , otherwise ...no.
Drove a Opel Ampera 100% electric as we got sevral " inviremental friendly" cars at work ( on gas/fuel , full electric , electric/ fuel) , it drove realy nice....wierd but nice....you need to get used to it.

I just upgraded my Cali with self-driving comma.ai and it is amazing . Drives on highways (Cali does not allow steering control of external devices under 55 km/h, so that disengages the self-driving module).