And thats if people even want to give up driving in the first place.
And no, were not talking about toy cars, these are real, adult-sized, remotely-driven automobiles.
What are remote-controlled cars?
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Thats what remote-controlled carsharing delivers over the more common smart rentals.
For example, in Germany,statisticsreveal that there were 580 cars per 1000 inhabitants in 2021.
Ten years ago, it was 517.
The proportion of households with two cars also rose from 23.4%to 27% during this time.
Carsharing provides an alternative to privately owned vehicles, reducing the need for single or multi-car-owning households.
Another huge benefit is that drivers can try different cars based on their transport needs for each trip.
Need to move something?
Remote-controlled carsharing doesnt take this away.
Well, at least not yet.
And when you add remote-control operations into the mix, things get interesting.
There is an important note to reiterate here though.
If you order a remote-controlled vehicle, youre not getting an AI manoeuvring the car.
Instead, its an actual human.
They view a screen that broadcasts a 360-degree view of the roads.
This happens in real-time over 4G (and, in some cities, 5G).
Theres no one driving under the influence or speeding.
Theres also less of a risk of distraction, as operators are doing nothing else but driving.
And distraction is the enemy of reactiveness.
I also spoke with Thomas von der Ohe, the co-founder, and CEO ofVay.
He previously worked on Amazons Alexa and at robotaxi startupZoox.
He sees the value of humans being still in the loop.
The country is the birthplace ofStarship Technologies, makers of autonomous delivery robots, ridesharing giantBolt, andIseautosautonomous roboshuttles.
In the case of remote-controlled vehicles, theresElmoandClevonwho teleoperate mid-size delivery vehicles.
According to Laansoo from Elmo, remote people-carrying kicked off five years ago.
Currently, Elmo operates remote vehicles in Estonia.
The company has attracted interest in both countries, as well as Finland, Switzerland and the US.
The company showcased a prototype recently atSlushin Helsinki and is currently looking at pilots in the UK and Malta.
An industry still in its infancy
But there are still unknowns given the infancy of remote-controlled carsharing.
For example, Laansoo raised the challenge of remote operator fatigue.
Then theres recruitment what makes a good remote driver?
Laansoo suggests it could be anyone from a 60-year-old truck driver or a virtual rally driver.
Elmo is already discussing licensing its technology to other rideshare operators in Europe.
Its not entirely clear.
Will it be an autonomously operating vehicle that comes to you, which you then take over the wheel?
The fact remains that we are still Level 4 in terms of any commercial vehicle automation.
The reality is that autonomous vehicles are complex and expensive,andwe needfewer cars on the roads.
Furthermore, whatever exists needs to complement and coexist with public transport, micromobility,autocycles, and ebikes.
And, in the future,eVTOLsand perhaps even hyperloops.
At some point, autonomous vehicles will arrive, but its still unclear when.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin.
