The Transformative Potential of Autonomous Vehicles
11/24/20252 min read
The Low Utilization of Human-Driven Cars
Traditional cars owned by individuals are used for only about 10 hours per week on average. With 168 hours in a week, this means privately owned vehicles sit idle more than 94% of the time.
This extremely low utilization stems from the fact that personal car ownership has historically prioritized convenience over cost-efficiency. Until now, no cheaper alternative could match the instant, on-demand availability of your own vehicle, even if you actually need it only 6% of the time.
The Breakthrough Enabled by Autonomy
Fully autonomous vehicles fundamentally change this equation. For the first time, you can enjoy 100% personal availability when you need the car, while the vehicle earns money for you the remaining 94% of the time by serving as a robotaxi, all without requiring your presence or attention.
Because the car can drive itself from point A to point B independently, it becomes possible to own (or have access to) a vehicle that functions as a revenue-generating asset rather than a depreciating liability.
Current cities:
Dominated by parkings
Future cities:
Transformed into parks
From 6% to ~30% Utilization — A 5× Leap
Autonomy can realistically boost average vehicle utilization from ~6% (10 hours/week) to ~30% (50 hours/week or more). This fivefold increase means we would need far fewer vehicles to provide the same (or better) mobility for everyone.
In practice, this could accelerate the transition to clean, electric, individualized road transport by a factor of 5 using roughly the same resources we have today, simply because each vehicle would be productive five times longer.
The Path to Reality
For this vision to materialize at scale, true unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) must be achieved and widely deployed. In the United States, that future is closer than ever: Tesla’s FSD version 14.2 is demonstrating exceptional performance, and the Tesla Robotaxi ride-hailing network is already rolling out in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area.
A Cleaner, Greener Urban Future
The ripple effects extend far beyond economics. When vehicles are in near-constant use, we no longer need the roughly 10,000 square miles of land currently devoted to parking.
Freeing up that vast area would allow cities to:
Convert parking lots and garages into parks, housing, businesses, or public spaces
Improve walkability and quality of life
Dramatically lower the environmental footprint of transportation
Autonomous, shared-yet-individual electric vehicles could deliver convenient, affordable, zero-emission mobility for billions, while turning one of humanity’s biggest resource drains into a productive, income-generating asset.
This is not just incremental progress, it is one of the most powerful levers we have toward sustainable abundance.