Self-driving vehicles will remarkably change the global economy in less than 20 years, heavily impacting government, insurance, media, security, logistics, and the automotive industry.
That’s according to a new report by Forrester researchers Laura Koetzle and Carlton A. Doty.
Forrester believes that even though more rides will take place every day in 2035, the amount of cars on the road or parked will decrease dramatically. In a large, congested city like London, five percent of the passenger cars will supposedly be needed.
Automakers will look at high definition audio, video, and partnerships with Netflix, Disney, and Spotify as ways of selling the experience, instead of the ‘driving experience’, which BMW, Mercedes, and other premium automakers market heavily.
Cars will become so cheap to run, with electric models becoming the standard, that “large employers will subsidize self-driving commuter services” and entertainment corporations will use self-driving cars as an extension of the travel experience. Forrester uses Disney as an example, picking up the customer and starting their experience in the car.
Insurance rates to rise?
Insurance is expected to rise slightly in the semi-autonomous stage, but rates will begin to reduce as self-driving cars become ubiquitous in major cities. As that happens, the government will need to invest heavily into road infrastructure, according to Forrester, to prepare for self-driving cars.
See Also: Waymo could be a $70 billion business, says Morgan Stanley
Forrester sees Tesla’s future as the company that sells batteries and energy to automakers, not as a builder of electric cars. In the report, it projects that Tesla will one day surpass ExxonMobil’s market cap, which would make it one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Most of the report tries to paint an optimistic view of the future, although adverts subsidizing a ride, an inability to drive anywhere in the country without getting questioned, and a loss of more than a million jobs in the logistics industry could sound terrible, depending on your job and love of driving.
