How will car Ownership look like after the transition to AVs?

By David Ngetich

Autonomous cars are coming sooner than we expected, and the general consensus is that people will bid car ownership farewell. Ultimately, getting around in the future is going to be easier and cheaper and the hassle of owning a car may as well outweigh the benefits. Besides, with the dominant ride sharing platforms in place such as Uber and Lyft, purchasing your own car and the cost of maintaining it will seem far less appealing.

According to a report by RethinkX, an independent think tank based in San Francisco, within a decade of the approval of autonomous vehicles, 95% of U.S. passenger miles travelled will be served by on demand autonomous electric vehicles. In further estimates that these autonomous vehicles will be owned by fleets such as Uber, Lyft, Didi and not individuals.

A research by KPMG also predicts that driverless cars and mobility services will provide transportation services that will reduces consumer ownership for private cars. KMPG’s research highlights that in particular ownership for sedans will reduce significantly (from 5.4 million units sold today to just 2.1 million units by 2030) due to the readily available autonomous vehicles that will dominate transport mobility market.