Last week, Tesla (TSLA) held its “robotaxi” event…
The electric-car maker unveiled its long-awaited self-driving taxi. Reviews for the event were mixed. And that’s being generous.
Like many Tesla events, it came with a lot of promises for autonomous-vehicle (“AV”) tech. The company might not be able to deliver on them.
By now, we all know that CEO Elon Musk is a wild card. There’s no doubt about that.
But folks, robotaxi tech is real. It’s in use today.
In fact, I just recently experienced it firsthand. And looking ahead, it gave me massive conviction for the technology…
You see, I took a trip to San Francisco last month.
I had already read about the city’s self-driving taxis. And I couldn’t resist the opportunity to try out this new technology.
Even if you haven’t used it, you’ve likely heard of Waymo. It’s an AV business that Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) owns. And it operates in San Francisco.
So to hail one of the city’s self-driving taxis, I downloaded the Waymo One app onto my phone. Then, I put in the address of my destination.
Now, I felt a bit anxious as I stood on the sidewalk…
On one hand, I couldn’t wait to try out a robotaxi for the first time. But I was also a bit nervous.
Sure enough, when the white Jaguar sedan pulled up, it didn’t have a driver. I didn’t take this picture, but it looked like this one from a recent report about the technology…
I hopped into the back seat. And a woman’s voice welcomed me.
The voice explained a few basics and reminded me to buckle my seat belt.
I hit the “start ride” option on a touchscreen pad in front of me. And we were off.
The car gently merged with the afternoon traffic. Within seconds, it zipped through the streets of San Francisco.
Again, I didn’t take this next picture. It’s from another recent report. But here’s what the view looks like from the back seat. It’s jarring to see nobody at the wheel…
My anxiousness disappeared almost immediately. My only thought was, “This is so cool.”
The ride was quiet – aside from the car’s music. It sounded like something you would hear at a spa.
The car took a patient approach with pedestrians and folks on bicycles. It was cautious but never “jerky” with braking or hitting the gas.
The touchscreen keeps you updated on about how long until you reach your destination. It also has options to control the music or contact rider support.
The car has cameras and microphones inside in case you need assistance from a Waymo employee. And it has a bunch of fancy equipment on the roof – mainly sensors that detect everything around the vehicle.
When the car pulled over to drop me off, it told me to watch out for an approaching cyclist.
The entire experience delighted me. At first, it felt weird to see the steering wheel turning with nobody in the driver seat. But after a few minutes, it felt like any other taxi ride.
That evening, my wife Sandy and I had plans to meet our son for dinner…
Sandy asked me to call an Uber. Instead, I again used Waymo. But I didn’t tell her.
When it pulled up, Sandy immediately asked, “Where’s the driver?“
She was skeptical at first. But she liked Waymo so much that we used the service three more times over the next few days.
Folks, I couldn’t be more confident when I say…
This is the future.
I’ve been excited about self-driving cars for a while. And now that I’ve experienced one firsthand, I’m 100% convinced about the technology.
It’s not perfect yet. But a future with AVs everywhere is closer than most folks expect.
I know a lot of people have doubts about these kinds of Big Tech trends. But I’m old enough to have seen plenty of changes over the years. And this one is easy to predict…
In short, we don’t need to have a person behind every steering wheel. I enjoy driving my Audi Q5. It’s fun. But I can admit that a well-designed computer could be a better driver.
Eventually, folks will look back and think it’s funny that we used to drive cars…
The current situation is no different than other tech trends. Before the printing press, someone hand-printed every book. Folks used to make all their clothes by hand. And before backhoes, every construction project needed dozens of guys with shovels.
A change like this won’t occur overnight. But it’s happening.
Again, AVs are already here on America’s streets. And as they become more widespread, that means big opportunity for investing in this trend.
Good investing,
Marc Chaikin
