How many of you have had rides in an "autonomous vehicle": AVs?
In San Francisco, Google’s Waymo self-driving taxi services are everywhere. I tell my 6-year-old that he probably won’t need a driver’s license. They haven’t come to Canada yet, but apparently so in the next few years.
The advantages of an eventual driverless road are so many:
- No driving while impaired
- No texting or looking at phone
- Every car follows every rule of the road, making the whole system efficient
- You don’t get into taxis or Ubers that smell, where they are eating food in the front, talking on the phone
- Much lower insurance costs
This chart seems to be on the “pessimistic side”, projecting 8% of taxi rides being autonomous by 2030.
Data shows that consumers are gravitating toward AVs in select rideshare markets where they are available. The safety record of Waymo, a self-driving technology company, so far is also encouraging. The company’s studies show that its vehicles had far fewer airbag deployment crashes and injury-causing crashes as compared to human drivers. This seems to be the push-back most cited: “Well, what if the robot crashes?”. The number of accidents with AVs is by order of magnitude less for AVs. And those crashes are all involving another human drive vehicle. AV-to-AV accidents just don’t happen.
From an investor perspective: ignoring the companies that are the forefront of this: the chips that power the autonomy, and all the other ancillary services: that’s why we continue to be invested in the biggest and best companies who are benefiting from these trends. It’s not prudent to bet against them. It’s also a reminder of focusing on what matters to investors: owning companies that are growing based on new trends. Not on the headlines of the day, that are forgotten tomorrow.
The weekend is Wimbledon Finals. My favorite tennis championship: Sunday Breakfast at Wimbledon! Swiatek is going to win against the American Anisimova on the women’s side. For the men, we are moving from one golden age to another one, and as a sports fan its really exciting to see unfold. Djokovic, 38 years old, and the two new young guns: Sinner and Alcaraz: they have won the last 13 majors between them. Likely an epic Men’s final: with Sinner winning in 5 sets against Alcaraz.
Have a great weekend!