- As well as road safety, there’s the prospect of fully-automated cars driving in high-speed platoons to reduce aerodynamic drag on the vehicles, thus providing up to 20% savings on fuel consumption.
- As self-driving cars become the standard (and thus, more affordable), car-sharing services will become even more prominent. This could lead to less car ownership, as people see the cost benefits of hiring cars on-demand, rather than paying for one outright.
- Four times as many cars could travel on the roads if all vehicles were fully-automated, says Knight. According to the Texas Transportation Institute, this could make a serious dent in the 5.5 billion hours and 2.9 billion gallons of fuel lost each year due to traffic congestion.
