Self-Driving RVs, Not Cars, Will Bring About the True Paradigm Shift (2016)
The cost of an RV makes this out of reach of all but the most wealthy. A &quot;paradigm shift&quot; doesn&#x27;t come from luxury goods, it comes when the cost is within reach of average folks.<p>The photos in the article are of RVs that cost $100k+ (for the little class B) and $175k+ (for the big diesel pusher class A). People who spend $60k+ on a luxury auto may not blink at that, but I doubt it&#x27;s gonna be a mainstream thing. It&#x27;s a high margin industry, but even if we assume it becomes much more widespread and competition increases and margins come down, it&#x27;s still just really expensive to put a whole apartment in a van&#x2F;bus.<p>Also, RVs are a tremendous amount of labor to own even if you don&#x27;t do the driving. They need a lot more maintenance (if you&#x27;re barreling down the highway in your living room at 70MPH, shit&#x27;s gonna break), maintenance is a lot more expensive, and you have to deal with dumping and refilling tanks, among other things. I just don&#x27;t think everyone is going to want that as part of their normal daily commute.<p>My sister&#x27;s family tried renting an RV for trips, rather than flying for a while (because their son liked my motorhome and wanted to try out that kind of travel), but decided not to buy an RV and went back to flying or traveling in their SUV and staying in hotels along the way when they wanted a road trip. As with the boat they bought on a whim, it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth to them.<p>I live in an RV and travel kinda full-time, and have done so for ~6 of the past ~8 years, so I totally understand the appeal. I love having my whole house with me when I travel, sleeping in my own bed every night, cooking in my familiar kitchen, etc., but I can see how it&#x27;s not for everyone. And, again, the cost is prohibitive for a lot of people. If you live in the RV full-time and don&#x27;t have rent or a mortgage payment, it&#x27;s entirely do-able on a modest income...but, in <i>addition</i> to a primary residence, it&#x27;s a pricey endeavor, really only within reach of pretty wealthy people.