Bob Lutz Strikes Again and Again

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There will be "retrofit" kits for older cars that use servos to replace the driver (if it ever comes to that)
 
There will certainly be a shift in the next 50 years in the automotive/autonomous human delivery systems. The younger generation couldn't care less about driving and owning cars, much less maintaining them. I'm in the last generation (roughly) that getting a driver's license was a major milestone for. I love driving, owning, and wrenching on my vehicles.

That being said, I'm not sure that not having a car payment, not wanting/having a garage, not dealing with commuting, not sleeping on a long trip, not constantly worrying if that on-coming car is going to go over the yellow line, etc... are bad things.
 
They need to get off this guy stat. He's just to out of it to run a company like GM. The wrong guy full stop.

Horse analogies don't work with the current user base.

What was an opportunity to pimp the brand and an exciting future sounds more like gloom and doom.


His future is as far off as a flying car rotating on a podium- they didn't get right back then- he doesnt have it right now.




UD
 
He could be correct. It's the large corporations that will decide because they own the market and the politicians. The corporations will continue to direct human behavior for their benefit. You'll continue to buy your food at the grocery chain store, take your pills and do everything else with your smartphone and your fingerprint. You will continue to be rewarded for good behavior and your entitlement will be assured. You will be allowed to check your score with the appropriate app. Everyone will succeed.
 
Originally Posted By: PiperOne
What none of these futurists seem to comprehend is...some people actually enjoy driving!!!


I totally get what you are saying. I am one of those. But have you paid attention to one of the differences between generations? I'm on the tail end of the baby boomers. When I was in high school, one of the great moments of life was getting your driver's license. Everyone got theirs as soon as they qualified.

But that isn't true of the kids now. There is a large percent of kids that don't get a driver's license. They are perfectly satisfied to bum rides from others, or ride the bus, or even walk. I can see this younger generation being thrilled with being able to hail a self driving car for a ride, being able to go where they want, but never having to be concerned with all the details of car ownership.

I'm afraid we a dying breed. Forty years from now most of us car lovers will either be dead or in a care center. There will be a few kids that will hang on to the iron that we loved, but for the most part it will all be in museums somewhere, as a testament of how things used to be.
 
Self driving cars are coming, no question. And why own one when you can just request one on your phone? I think he's onto something.
 
The whole autonomous/pod sharing technology can work in a densely populated urban area, but try that with a suburban family with 1-2 kids and piano lessons, ball practice etc.- it ain't happening...
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: PiperOne
What none of these futurists seem to comprehend is...some people actually enjoy driving!!!


I totally get what you are saying. I am one of those. But have you paid attention to one of the differences between generations? I'm on the tail end of the baby boomers. When I was in high school, one of the great moments of life was getting your driver's license. Everyone got theirs as soon as they qualified.

But that isn't true of the kids now. There is a large percent of kids that don't get a driver's license. They are perfectly satisfied to bum rides from others, or ride the bus, or even walk. I can see this younger generation being thrilled with being able to hail a self driving car for a ride, being able to go where they want, but never having to be concerned with all the details of car ownership.

I'm afraid we a dying breed. Forty years from now most of us car lovers will either be dead or in a care center. There will be a few kids that will hang on to the iron that we loved, but for the most part it will all be in museums somewhere, as a testament of how things used to be.


I think you are mostly noticing younger folks who live in dense urban areas. People out in the 'sticks' still love their cars and I hear all sorts of commotion every day that the nearby high school lets out at 2:30 PM. The kids still love driving.

All this yikyak about self driving cars and trucks is just a lot of wishful talking or even virtue signaling.
 
After driving in my bosses Tesla SUV, I wasn't overly impressed with it. I do like that it would be really cheap to fill it compared to a gasoline engine and there is no need for oil changes, muffler replacement and most likely no need for brakes ever, range anxiety is still a problem at this point and as a traveling sales guy I don't have hours to recharge it and I need it to be capable of at least 300 miles a day so with running all the accessories like the heater etc. I will will have enough range to get back home. Also the price is ridiculous for what you get at the moment which is a huge factor as well.
 
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Originally Posted By: MCompact
The whole autonomous/pod sharing technology can work in a densely populated urban area, but try that with a suburban family with 1-2 kids and piano lessons, ball practice etc.- it ain't happening...


Why wouldn't it work? Your kid uses an app, a car arrives and takes him to his piano lesson. Hits the app again and another self driving car shows up to take him to ball practice.

Just like Uber except no driver.

Insurance premiums for driving yourself will go way up. Crash your car while human-driving? Open up your checkbook. Some states like Montana might reject the new safer self-driving cars. Montana will see a huge influx of old cars and people. Auto Zone and AAP will merge and relocate all their stores to Montana.

Other states will have tracks or roadways where you can pay to drive a car yourself after you sign waivers. People will exclaim, "It was so exciting to drive myself! But glad I don't have to do that everyday. It was so exhausting after 10 minutes."
 
Once we go to 5g this will come sooner than you would think. He is not saying anything different than what I heard or read elsewhere. He has probably been to the meetings where it is all planned then filtered or expressed in the Bob Lutz way.

I related to the horse analogy. My Great Grandfather was the town blacksmith. Shoeing horses was one of his jobs.

In high school I was studying to repair TV's. They had tubes back then. Just set up my first Smart TV yesterday.

I realize my Elantra may be the last car I ever own. When it becomes more expensive to own a car than ride autonomously people will comply. But, when that happens they will have to remove my last bottle of Pennzoil Plantinum from my cold dead hands.
grin.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: PiperOne
What none of these futurists seem to comprehend is...some people actually enjoy driving!!!


I totally get what you are saying. I am one of those. But have you paid attention to one of the differences between generations? I'm on the tail end of the baby boomers. When I was in high school, one of the great moments of life was getting your driver's license. Everyone got theirs as soon as they qualified.

But that isn't true of the kids now. There is a large percent of kids that don't get a driver's license. They are perfectly satisfied to bum rides from others, or ride the bus, or even walk. I can see this younger generation being thrilled with being able to hail a self driving car for a ride, being able to go where they want, but never having to be concerned with all the details of car ownership.

I'm afraid we a dying breed. Forty years from now most of us car lovers will either be dead or in a care center. There will be a few kids that will hang on to the iron that we loved, but for the most part it will all be in museums somewhere, as a testament of how things used to be.


I think you are mostly noticing younger folks who live in dense urban areas. People out in the 'sticks' still love their cars and I hear all sorts of commotion every day that the nearby high school lets out at 2:30 PM. The kids still love driving.

All this yikyak about self driving cars and trucks is just a lot of wishful talking or even virtue signaling.


People said the same thing about horses 100 years ago.
 
I first heard about the modules/trains concept yrs ago. Lutz' ideas are nothing new. How to overlay the new mode onto the existing road network is the biggest obstacle. The technology is already here
 
And yet, GM just introduced a 650hp Camaro and a 750hp Corvette. I’ve been a car and motorcycle enthusiast my entire life. I’m now 63. We have worried since the 70’s about the end of the performance car era. Another generation has come and gone and it’s still getting better. Predictions of its demise have proven premature.
 
Originally Posted By: Indydriver
And yet, GM just introduced a 650hp Camaro and a 750hp Corvette. I’ve been a car and motorcycle enthusiast my entire life. I’m now 63. We have worried since the 70’s about the end of the performance car era. Another generation has come and gone and it’s still getting better. Predictions of its demise have proven premature.


Might as well go out with a bang!
 
and I thought the manual transmission was disappearing. Sounds like the drive themselves will be disappearing. Should be interesting when the car gets a flat tire or there is some failure that results in manual driving!
 
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
and I thought the manual transmission was disappearing. Sounds like the drive themselves will be disappearing. Should be interesting when the car gets a flat tire or there is some failure that results in manual driving!


There won't be any way to manual drive. No steering wheel, no gas or brake pedals. An autonomous tow trick will be dispatched to retrieve its fallen comrade.
 
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