Volvo Shares Their Vision of Autonomous Taxis with the 360c Concept Reveal

cageymaru

cageymaru

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Volvo asks the question, "Why fly when you can be driven?" With the new 360c concept car; electric, autonomous, connected and taxi all converge into a glass roofed design that can be adopted for a wide array of vehicles based on the platform. Want a bed to sleep in as you travel cross country alone? Four people sharing a vehicle? What about a couple? Already envisioned and accounted for in the design stage of the vehicle.

Increasingly, car sharing and subscription services are complementing traditional car ownership patterns. And while we believe that many people will still want to have their own car, others will switch to alternative mobility solutions as they become available. We believe that this type of mobility solution will be ubiquitous, changing the nature of the way we travel and the way we plan and build our cities.
 
Not yet ready for deployment........

However, I'd love to have a true self driving car.
I'd rather pack the car and sleep overnight while the car takes me to my destination, than to have to deal with airport security, cramped seats, rental cars, etc.
 
Why take an airplane when you can take a taxi?

Well lets see....
1) It's faster. Time is money.
2) Driving (at laest, in its current form with human drivers at the majority) is probably at least 100x as dangerous

So yeah.... no... that's alright.
 
Not sure who takes taxi trips long enough to be able to sleep. I mean, around here, just getting to the airport 5 mins away is a $30+ taxi trip (not including tip). I would hate to see what a trip would cost when it is long enough for one to fall asleep for any length of time.

Sure, it's driverless and electric, so therefore the taxi company could theoretically charge less, but would they?
 
Cyraxx said:
Why take an airplane when you can take a taxi?

Well lets see....
1) It's faster. Time is money.
2) Driving (at laest, in its current form with human drivers at the majority) is probably at least 100x as dangerous

So yeah.... no... that's alright.
Click to expand...


Faster? That depends.
By the time you take an hour to get to the airport, find a parking space, get through security, wait to board, fly, deplane, get your luggage, pick up the rental car, drive to the hotel, etc., it might take you longer if it's only a few hundred miles away. LA to San Jose is around 5 hours by car, but it would likely take at least 3 hours getting through the airport and flying. Depending on how far you are from the airport, it could take longer than driving.

Once we have true self driving cars, and human error is taken out of driving, it might be almost as safe as flying.
When that happens, I can't imaging flying anywhere that is less than 600 mile away, when I can just travel overnight while I sleep.
 
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Carbon_Rod said:
Not sure who takes taxi trips long enough to be able to sleep. I mean, around here, just getting to the airport 5 mins away is a $30+ taxi trip (not including tip). I would hate to see what a trip would cost when it is long enough for one to fall asleep for any length of time.

Sure, it's driverless and electric, so therefore the taxi company could theoretically charge less, but would they?
Click to expand...

The driver is a major part of the cost of a taxi ride. Replacing the driver would bring costs down significantly.
However, I doubt it would be cost effective to take a 200 mile ride in one.

If you wanted to do that, you would likely go with the same model rental cars currently use, and rent the car for a few days or weeks.
 
nutzo said:
Faster? That depends.
By the time you take an hour to get to the airport, find a parking space, get through security, wait to board, fly, deplane, get your luggage, pick up the rental car, drive to the hotel, etc., it might take you longer if it's only a few hundred miles away. LA to San Jose is around 5 hours by car, but it would likely take at least 3 hours getting through the airport and flying. Depending on how far you are from the airport, it could take longer than driving.

Once we have true self driving cars, and human error is taken out of driving, it might be almost as safe as flying.
When that happens, I can't imaging flying anywhere that is less than 600 mile away, when I can just travel overnight while I sleep.
Click to expand...

Well, it then becomes a matter of importance/speed. Obviously, this would reduce the strain on airports too. Thus, going hand in hand. So, what might result in quicker for efficient road trips, would also result in reduce use of flying. Thus, those previous problems would get reduced too.
 
I wasn't buying the premise at first. Watching the video gave me time to reconsider it. It's pretty much ideal. You don't have to travel to and park at an airport / train station / bus station, it picks you up from home. It takes you directly to your destination, no rental car or mass transit required. And you don't have to deal with cramped seats, bad hygiene, or extroverts.

I live in KC. Driving west to Colorado is one of the worst drives in the US. Nothing but flat land and speed traps. KC to Colorado Springs is ~600 mi, 8.5 hours. KC to St Louis is ~250mi, <4 hours. I would never fly these short hops. The train's fixed schedule is too restrictive.

Pick me up in the middle of the night. I'll happily snooze my way across the country in a vehicle like that.
 
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