AAH #796 - Legacy Automakers Are Not Ready For An Autonomous Future
Jun 22, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min · 14 segments
TOPIC: Mobility PANEL: Larry Burns, Mobility Expert; Joann Muller, Axios; Gary Vasilash, shinymetalboxes.net; John McElroy, Autoline.tv
Jun 22, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min · 14 segments
TOPIC: Mobility PANEL: Larry Burns, Mobility Expert; Joann Muller, Axios; Gary Vasilash, shinymetalboxes.net; John McElroy, Autoline.tv
John McElroyHost
Joann MullerGuest
Gary VasilashHost
My premise is, and has been for years, that when we get autonomous vehicles to scale, it will have as big or a bigger impact on society than when the first horseless carriages appeared 126 years ago.
You know, a lot of people think about autonomous as, oh, Uber without a driver, or the car I have today that I don't have to drive but it's the same car.
And I spend my time thinking beyond that, the s- future form factor, not just of the vehicle, but how it's gonna reshape the way people live.
And for example, if you have a robocar, I'll use the term robocar to be the personal autonomous vehicle, and robotaxi to be the one that's used in ride-hailing.
Waymo's out there saying they're 90% safer than human drivers, and that's just gonna get better.
Can I dispatch the robocar with my 12-year-old to go to soccer practice so I don't have to use my time on that trip? And I studied time and geography and transportation.
When you free me up from that trip, it frees me up to do so many other things, John.
So I think this future of autonomous vehicles has to be understood in the broader context of how it's gonna change the way people live, not just transportation.
So, so y- you're, you're suggesting that people will have more time on their hands as a result of not having to drive their vehicles?
What I'm suggesting is not just the, the, the time savings of the trip, it's, um, n- not having to schedule around that specific trip.
And what I've studied in the whole field of what's called access, I, I s- I did my dissertation on access in 1978.
It's the freedom to go where you want when you want, and it's not just the geography and where things are located, it's when they're available.
That's why remote work has been so embraced by so many people, because it frees them up.
The trip I don't make to the store, there's no amount of speed increase in transportation you can give me that can save me as much time as not having to make that trip.
So it's not just a transportation phenomenon, it's how we organize and choreograph our lives with the people we're with, and autonomous vehicles are gonna be a big enabler of that.
Um, and the other thing I find very interesting is just the potential to rethink the, the vehicle itself, the parts that go away.
Um, you know, your instrument cluster, your steering wheel, your brake pedal, your accelerator pedal.
But then if you really believe the physics are gonna change because the crashes aren't happening as often, I'm really convinced that the value of the stuff you take off the car is gonna be on the order of what you have to add for the processors and sensors to drive autonomously.
My premise is, and has been for years, that when we get autonomous vehicles to scale, it will have as big or a bigger impact on society than when the first horseless carriages appeared 126 years ago.
You know, a lot of people think about autonomous as, oh, Uber without a driver, or the car I have today that I don't have to drive but it's the same car.
And I spend my time thinking beyond that, the s- future form factor, not just of the vehicle, but how it's gonna reshape the way people live.
And for example, if you have a robocar, I'll use the term robocar to be the personal autonomous vehicle, and robotaxi to be the one that's used in ride-hailing.
Waymo's out there saying they're 90% safer than human drivers, and that's just gonna get better.
Can I dispatch the robocar with my 12-year-old to go to soccer practice so I don't have to use my time on that trip? And I studied time and geography and transportation.
When you free me up from that trip, it frees me up to do so many other things, John.
So I think this future of autonomous vehicles has to be understood in the broader context of how it's gonna change the way people live, not just transportation.
So, so y- you're, you're suggesting that people will have more time on their hands as a result of not having to drive their vehicles?
What I'm suggesting is not just the, the, the time savings of the trip, it's, um, n- not having to schedule around that specific trip.
And what I've studied in the whole field of what's called access, I, I s- I did my dissertation on access in 1978.
It's the freedom to go where you want when you want, and it's not just the geography and where things are located, it's when they're available.
That's why remote work has been so embraced by so many people, because it frees them up.
The trip I don't make to the store, there's no amount of speed increase in transportation you can give me that can save me as much time as not having to make that trip.
So it's not just a transportation phenomenon, it's how we organize and choreograph our lives with the people we're with, and autonomous vehicles are gonna be a big enabler of that.
Um, and the other thing I find very interesting is just the potential to rethink the, the vehicle itself, the parts that go away.
Um, you know, your instrument cluster, your steering wheel, your brake pedal, your accelerator pedal.
But then if you really believe the physics are gonna change because the crashes aren't happening as often, I'm really convinced that the value of the stuff you take off the car is gonna be on the order of what you have to add for the processors and sensors to drive autonomously.
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