Self-Driving vehicles

I have metromile. It has a base rate plus Xcents/mile driven. My luxury car sits in the garage almost all the time, since my partner has an SUV, and he usually drives (I don’t like driving).
This rating formula definitely works in my favor, and I think also for most middle/upper class people with 1+ cars.

I think most of the big players have at least some telematics program nowadays.

I think this goes without question. But the question of what percent of their book actually utilizes the program?

Note that there are some makes/models that cannot use the usual “plug-in” telematics device that is able to “record” the odometer.

Not sure, but if that’s not the segment they’re growing they’ll be selected against pretty aggressively once people realize how much they can save (and it’s also extremely intuitive for them to realize how archaic the old algo is), especially for big city people with cars. Or middle class families with two cars.

And then there are families like ours, where we have multiple cars, multiple drivers, and one particular driver (my spouse) holding the rest of us hostage because they don’t want the telematics in their vehicle. We cave to the hostage taker because they’re the worst speeder of all of us (regularly 50+ in a 40, it’s infuriating), so it probably would be a wash based on their driving in terms of premium reduction. If there were a cheap way (low premium on both policies) to exclude them on all other cars (because they only drive their own), we could have 2 separate policies, but then the loss of multi-car discount on the policy covering their vehicle (and all drivers) would likely make it not cheap.

I want info on people who have had wrecks on metromile or the like, in terms of customer service and any issues with repairs/etc. I nearly got my spouse to accept that switch, because of the massive reduction in cost, but the lack of info on what happens in the event you actually need the insurance kept us from shifting.

I wish driverless vehicles were here already, en masse. I wouldn’t mind (as much) going into the office if I didn’t have to worry about all the other people on the road. I have an electric car which I generally drive in one pedal mode (I do use my brake pedal, but much less often than I do in an ICE vehicle). I am sure that other drivers think I am an idiot who needs to replace their brake lights when I take my foot off the accelerator and start slowing down but no lights indicate that slowing, they just have to be paying attention. I do try to use my brake pedal more often in heavy traffic, but it’s hard to remember when the regen braking does such a good job of slowing down that the brake pedal is superfluous.

I didn’t know this. Not enough electrics where I drive.

It seems that software would solve that - when the regen kicks in, or starts generating at least __ watts, turn the brake lights on.

‘ymmv’ is definitely the right concept here.

Yes, cars go down hill both due to age and miles. My wife had a car that rusted out at 17 years, but probably less than 60,000 miles. But, my wife is also a lousy candidate for driverless taxis, she wouldn’t want the germs and smells left by the prior occupants.

I’ll agree that people who don’t wear cars out mechanically have higher costs per mile and are more likely to find taxis financially attractive. I think our perceptions of the numbers is different. Might be because we’ve lived in different places. I’ve always lived in places the Census would label “urban”, but I’ve never lived in a truly “walkable” neighborhood. I don’t see local news stories about young people abandoning cars in droves.

Whereas i have half a dozen friends in their 30s who make good money, bought a fabulously expensive dwelling, have a driveway, but don’t own a car.

:woman_shrugging:

And i have read articles about it, although, not since covid.

I do this, and I wish manufacturers would activate the brake lights when throttle position is zero and regen is 100%, or whatever. I believe there are enough sensors to tease this out already and this would just require a relay and perhaps a bit of wire.

Yes, absolutely. I would posit that it should be based on rate of deceleration rather than amount of regen, because I regen quite a bit going down hills (as in my guessometer range increases if the hill is long enough).

It’s not in the edit (pencil) menu. It’s in the list of icons, has it’s own garbage can icon beside the badge icon. Click the three dots below you’re post, you’ll see it.
Screenshot from 2020-12-29 07-27-06

Couldn’t help notice you have an item you need to return to Costco. That’s probably the best example of your car becoming redundant. Not because taxis, but because delivery costs have been dropping and automation could cause then to drop further.

When I grew up, delivery was a luxury. So we ran a ton of errands into the town and city. But lately (particularly with covid) no errand is worth going to the store, no matter how errant.

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Oh, there are companies out there that does the mileage thing directly. But as an industry . . . which is what I was replying to . . . there is generally very unreliable data on mileage (much being self-reported) apart from telematics programs.

And IIRC, SmartMiles (by Nationwide) is still a telematics-oriented program.

Thanks. The embarrassing part is I’m sure I’ve see the trash can icon before, I just kept staring at the wrong menu.

Department stores? Sure. As long as clothes sizes (or my size) don’t change, online is the way to go. Especially these days where inventories are crap. Just got some trail shoes delivered from Kohl’s. Fit great!

Grocery stores or pharmacies? I still go to those. Probably going to Trader Joe’s today.

We’re in lockdown, so other than grocery stores it’s curbside pickup only. I’m installing a shower and this is not fun. I generally browse the hardware store and build my plumbing piece by piece in the aisles. Then I forget something and have to run to the store about 4 times. Now we have to call with an item number and card info, then wait for a call back. Call, pickup. Call, pickup.

Cross post from the random thoughts thread; I just cut a drain pipe and watched a geyser erupt. I’m looking at it thinking, huh, a drain shouldnt be under pressure…watched the geyser waiting for the pressure to let off…had another random thought that THAT’s not right…geyser continues…Oh crap. I cut the water line. In the gravel under the concrete on our bottom floor. Call the hardware store again, this time for a sharkbite.

Some of the logistical issues - mainly around what the car does when not in use - make me think that a traditional taxi model won’t replace ownership.

However, I can definitely see a pooled ownership working. If I got together with, say, 10 people who live in the same area as me then one shared self-driving car could likely replace all our second cars.

If you use a car every day it’s hard to see how anything other than ownership will be the best idea, but if it’s used occassionally then something on the pooled/taxi/rental spectrum will become much more attractive once self-driving makes it easy.

I think a possible ownership model is that you lend your car to Uber when not in use. Your car has some rating and the people using your car also have some rating… Or, almost equivalent is that you use an Uber car but your commute is scheduled in advance.

This is kind of meaningless for us high rolling actuaries, but if you’re a barista at Starbucks, you could take the same car to work that delivers your frappacinos all day. You are either paying $3 a day to cover your commute, or you own the car and are paid $2/hour to lend your car. Regardless your costs drop a bit and that matters when you’re poor.

All that aside, I don’t availability will be an issue. Uber already does a good job of reaching the suburbs. In a world where 10% of cars are part of a fleet you can pretty much count on one being on your block at all times.

Or Uber sell you a cheap car on the proviso that they can use it when you don’t…

“I pay Uber $750 per month to have a car on retainer.”