Study Indicates That Driverless Cars Might Result In Higher Overall Fuel Consumption

Driverless cars have been the subject of some really heated discussions lately, especially as we’re getting closer to the first versions being released. However, things might not be as good as we thought initially.

A recent study carried out by researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor claims that autonomous cars could actually drink more fuel that the ones we currently have. The reason? More trips.

According to them, most households have more than one car that they use separately to run errands and commute to work and back again. These new cars would then be used to make more trips to achieve the same tasks and would in turn sip more fuel. Furthermore, the number of people that are sharing a conventional ride these days and are willing to switch to a self-driving one is unknown.

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TheSteve - 3/16/2015 1:35:10 PM

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Article: "... most households have more than one car that they use separately to run errands and commute to work and back again. These new cars would then be used to make more trips to achieve the same tasks and would in turn sip more fuel..."

Could someone explain this reasoning to me? Assuming a household has 2 cars, does this logic assume that (a) a third autonomous car is added, (b) one of the two regular cars is replaced by an autonomous car, or (c) two regular cars are replaced by one autonomous car? It doesn't make sense to me that if you're running the same missions but with a different car, you'll be making more trips and traveling farther. They're the same missions! The only exception I can think of is an EV car with limited range, where you can't do all your trips at once on a single charge for lack of range, so you have to go back home to recharge.