Self-driving cars could disrupt the airline and hotel industries within 20 years as people sleep in their vehicles on the road, says Audi.
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Self-driving cars could disrupt the airline and hotel industries within 20 years as people sleep in their vehicles on the road, according to a senior strategist at Audi.
Short-haul travel will be transformed and the hassle of getting to and from airports eliminated, said Sven Schuwirth, vice president of brand strategy and digital business at the German car brand.
Business travellers will be able to avoid taking domestic flights to meetings and will sleep and work in their cars en route instead of checking into city-centre hotels, he said.
"In the future you will not need a business hotel or a domestic flight," Schuwirth told Dezeen. "We can disrupt the entire business of domestic flights."
He added: "I think that vision is probably 20 years from now."
Cars will increasingly resemble mobile apartments, he said, and service stations along highways will evolve to support them, offering drivers facilities for washing, dining and shopping.
Hotels would change in response, Schuwirth added, with drivers using their facilities but returning to their cars to sleep. "Why should a hotel look like a hotel today?" he said.
Related story: "Self-driving cars are the answer. But what is the question?"
Car interiors will be able to morph between driving mode and sleeping mode, Schuwirth predicted.
"Today's cars are shaped to be only an emotional piece and to be very comfortable and safe," he said. "So in an autonomous world, if cars do not have accidents any more, the cars do not have have a small amount of glass, a lot of metal, a lot of bumpers and all that stuff. It could be a bit more transparent."
Top Reddit comment:
If you think about it, the auto insurance industry, auto-body repair industry, and civil governments that rely on traffic tickets are all going to be drastically affected as well.
LOL Never thought of that, but it sure would be nice to sleep in a completely reclining bed, and wake up at your destination, forget flying!
I was thinking the same thing. This cannot happen soon enough!
11:04 PM Dec 05 2015