Mobility, and finding ways to get somewhere more quickly, more easily and more cheaply has always been at the heart of mankind, from the use of horses to the invention of the wheel and more so now that there are countless imaginable ways to get around, as has especially been seen in recent years with the advent of the rentable electrical scooter for example, or ridesharing apps. However, it has always been a challenge to find a method that suits the majority of the population without undermining the rest and that does not require massive changes to existing transportation facilities, or even cities as a whole. Everything has been imagined; we have all seen or heard of plans to make space flight commercially viable, build massive underground tunnels through which supersonic trains could travel between continents, or flying cars. Nonetheless, the more traditional combination of individual cars and public transportation has proven to be the most effective mobility solution so far and that has not changed in quite a while.
This is something Elon Musk, through his electric car company Tesla, aims to further develop through a ridesharing app much like Uber, in which self-driving Tesla cars would pick passengers up in traditional taxi fashion. His plan is to reduce traffic congestion and make individual transportation more productive in the long run, enabling people to work during their car ride to work for example. This business plan, along with the broader idea of mobility it embodies, tries to combine the advantage of both personal and public transportation using technologies and structures that are already available. Indeed, although it had been promised for late 2019, Elon Musk just announced that the fully self-driving autopilot would be available in November this year on all Tesla cars (Bayard, 2020). This means that the concept of driverless carpooling introduced above might become a reality in the near future. however, given the fact that self-driving cars would still be a disruptive innovation in 2020 and a novelty for almost everyone, 2030 seems like a reliable timeframe for ‘mass’ deployment of the service, much like how it took several years for Uber to become a verb and not just an app.
The service thus contributes to environmental and mobility sustainability goals, by not only freeing up roads but also enabling mass carpooling capabilities; indeed, the problem with individual transportation, despite its comfort, is that vehicles are only ‘seldomly’ used for a fraction of the day. During those unused hours, if everyone made their cars available for carpooling, there would probably be no need for public transport and everyone could benefit from a more comfortable ride. Tesla’s ridesharing app can solve that, as we will see later.
Tesla as the potential to entirely replace the individual automobile. It would in essence lift the burden and costs of owning a car, whilst offering a luxurious experience that would require significant investments from the customer to imitate. If not totally, the app could also target occasional users who would rather pay a little more for comfort and luxury. It is also not irrelevant to consider the advantage of having a driverless car in the context of COVID-19 we live in today; if such a service was present today, it would allow for more safety and thus attract more customers who do not want to risk contact with a driver or wear a mask. Moreover, there are two winning parties in this business idea; Elon Musk plans to enable Tesla owners to lend their own cars to the ridesharing service while they are not using them, allowing for the same kind of amortization as subletting a secondary residence during times you don’t live in it. It would be as easy as driving your own Tesla to work, then making it available for ridesharing with the press of a button in the app. The car would then drive itself to the passenger, and so on. The functionality could be further optimized by allowing the users to set times during which they plan to use their cars, so that no new trips are started by the app and the vehicle is ready to be driven when necessary. Finally, it is a good fit to Tesla’s strategy as, when competing in the ever-more competitive world of technology and automation, it is imperative for Tesla to innovate in the service industry and not only in terms of product.
References:
Bayard, F. 2020. Retrieved from https://www.phonandroid.com/tesla-va-sattaquer-a-uber-avec-des-taxis-autonomes-sans-chauffeur-des-2020.html#:~:text=Elon%20Musk%20annonce%20l’arriv%C3%A9e%20imminente%20de%20l’Autopilot%20100,enti%C3%A8rement%20autonome%20%C3%A0%20ses%20clients
