Will autonomous cars be cheaper than traditional ones?

According to a report prepared by McKinsey: “The way to the autonomous mobility affordable”, in 2030 the price per kilometer of these autonomous vehicles will be cheaper than conventional vehicles.

Although the cost to produce these technologies is higher than normal cars, due to their low development, in less than 10 years the cost of “driverless” cars could be reduced by more than 60%.

However, experts question the consultant’s prediction. “I think it is still early to know the profitability that this type of transport will offer”, explains Carlos Poveda, CEO of Umiles Group.

The prudence of the experts is due to the fact that the technologies needed to get these robotaxis up and running are still far behind schedule. One of the factors on which this cost reduction depends is the scale production.

scale production

And it is that having few producers of these technologies makes it impossible for the cost to produce them to be cheaper, because it is the opposite. However, for scale production of these autonomous vehicles to become a reality, there must be more players in the market.

“There have to be several players that make large implementations so that the cost of producing one of these vehicles is low enough enough to compete with the current production of traditional cars”, said Sara Nicolás, head of External Affairs at Goggo Networks.

Felipe Jiménez, professor and director of the INSIA intelligent systems unit, compares this future of “robotaxis” with what has happened with the electric car, which in the end has not been as expensive as initially thought. In fact, the price is very similar to those of yesteryear.

The reduction of labor costs

In addition to chain production, another of the ways of saving these autonomous acts is explained by the reduction of labor costs. Or, put another way, you don’t have to pay drivers. However, the experts clarify, new jobs will be generated, like all those related to the remote control of the management of these robotaxis.

However, Luis Ignacio Vicente, strategic advisor of Pons IP, qualifies that this difference between the price of “robotaxis” and traditional taxis will vary by city. “It is the average that they do. There will be cities in which this difference is very large and others in which it is less. This It will depend on the concentration of the population.”, comment.

In addition, this expert apu that the knowledge on the streets that these new vehicles can provide will make that there is a “extreme savings”.

Finally, the question falls on whether they will be cheaper than traditional taxis or not. A question to which the experts do not dare to answer, since they consider that it is a situation that is too future-proof.