The impact of autonomous vehicles for real estate
A futuristic title for an article that is no less so. When Henry Ford launched the mass production of cars in 1907, he expected a wave. This was the case, the car was simple to drive and maintain. As a result, from the 1920s, the majority of Americans were familiar with the famous Ford T. One of the resounding successes of mass consumption, certainly. A century later, the world is still connected thanks to the roads but not only. Optical fibre has replaced copper for telecommunications. Now it is wireless transmissions that are gaining the upper hand. We are experiencing a new revolution with the Internet and connected objects. The link between these two innovations? Autonomous vehicles, precisely!
A futuristic title for an article that is no less so. When Henry Ford launched the mass production of cars in 1907, he expected a wave. This was the case, the car was simple to drive and maintain. As a result, from the 1920s, the majority of Americans were familiar with the famous Ford T. One of the resounding successes of mass consumption, certainly. A century later, the world is still connected thanks to the roads but not only. Optical fibre has replaced copper for telecommunications. Now it is wireless transmissions that are gaining the upper hand. We are experiencing a new revolution with the Internet and connected objects. The link between these two innovations? Autonomous vehicles, precisely!
Can we expect a new wave? We have studied the impact on real estate for you. But first, what exactly are autonomous vehicles and how do they work?
What are autonomous vehicles?
Driverless cars, but beware, there are several categories.
Fully automatic and assisted driving. The first category is the most spectacular as it will take you from A to Z completely automatically. The major names in the American industry have been working on this for several years, notably Google with the Google Car. The project has indeed been renamed Waymo.
Closer to the present, Tesla Motors launched the Autopilot system. This manages autonomous driving, notably including gear changing, acceleration and braking. The generalisation of the system has just been announced by Tesla for all its models. Given the brand’s popularity in the United States, American legislation will certainly authorise this type of circulation in many other states. Europe should quickly follow suit…
And the advantage for real estate?
Second homes, of course! France is the world champion in this area. But are they used as often? A pertinent question as weekend getaways are rather short when you add travel time. Indeed, half a day is devoted to travel time. With autonomous vehicles, the journey will become leisure time. You can thus prepare for the weekend comfortably seated in your vehicle. Better still, thanks to connected home automation, you can also ensure that the ideal temperature is set for your arrival. The ultimate luxury, isn’t it? We already told you about this here: Connected objects, a boon for your energy bill.
Car sharing in the meantime
Autonomous vehicles in France, it’s not for tomorrow, actually! In the meantime, you can still enjoy your second home thanks to car sharing. Moreover, after Blablacar, new flagships of the French Tech are making waves beyond our borders. Indeed, car sharing platforms such as Drivy or OuiCar (virtually owned by the SNCF) offer to rent vehicles at very good rates on site, from peer to peer. And if you find a welcoming owner, they could even pick you up from the station to hand over the car keys in person. Simply take a look at Drivy or OuiCar to see if vehicles are available in your second home areas. This will also allow you to wait until you acquire your first autonomous vehicle.
