The things you don't hear about electric cars (much)
It is 2023. There is one topic missing from the cover pages of tech magazines and the front pages of newspapers: self-driving cars.
On Monday, Tesla had their Investor Day. There were lots of discussions about cheaper electric cars, better manufacturing, and saving costs with better assembly lines. Yes, there were talks about Neuralink and brain chips — started in 2016 and still nowhere near any government approval. As of late, the only news about self-driving cars was an announcement from Waymo (sibling of Google) announcing a layoff of 137 employees and totalling 209 jobs.
Last year, I wrote about the challenges of building self-driving cars. Other car manufacturers are abandoning this idea and publicly acknowledging that a fully self-driving car is too difficult to build. More importantly, no one is asking for it. The self-driving car availability was promised by Mr. Musk in 2018, 2020, 2022...
Suddenly, market forces are pushing companies to start producing as many electric cars as possible to stay competitive. Governments are competing with each other in providing tax credits and enacting laws so only electric cars can be sold. Investment in charging stations is going up. The self-driving feature became a distraction.
Two other things don't make the front page, either.
There are not enough sources of electricity to power these cars and distribution networks are not ready for it. Even countries that are flushed with clean energy — like Norway which is currently exporting energy to the rest of Europe — will have to start importing energy by 2027. It can't build new energy resources fast enough. These electric cars are now competing with other green initiatives.
The new cars are getting more and more connected. Do you remember when OnStar was introduced by GM? With a press of a button, you connect with somebody who could help in case of emergency or get directions. Later, Tesla introduced a remote update of onboard software. Every morning your car was smarter and smarter.
Increasingly, every car manufacturer is providing you with a mobile app so you can control every aspect of your vehicle. That’s a marketing gimmick. However, car manufacturers are building this to create new channels for generating revenue. Once you purchase your ‘regular’ car, the manufacturer sees you once or twice a year for maintenance. There is no more money to be made. With a connected car and your mobile app, you are now available 24/7 to receive upgrades and special offers for just a few extra dollars a month.
Your car will also be reporting how you use it based on the car data collected. For example, Tesla decided to remove the adjustable lumbar support in the front passenger seat on Model Y. They did it because the data showed that people are not using this frequently enough.
You ask what the recurrent pattern is in all of this? There are times when you get excited about new ideas — all the possibilities and a rosy future which looks like Utopia. Then, the market reality settles in and you have to make sure that your product is well built, it has the right features, and is competitively priced to make you money. Electric cars are now moving into that cycle and self-driving took the back seat.