I've seen various business cases for Robotaxis - but the main competition are human drivers. So, how much can RT make when competing with human drivers ?
Let us say the minimum wage is $15 an hour. A lot of Uber/Lyft drivers actually make something like or even less that once all costs are accounted for.
All other costs of operating a RT is no different than operating a taxi service. Utilization of a taxi can be as high as RT when using drivers in shifts. Both RT & Taxis need to be cleaned, serviced, charged etc. The only difference is who is driving - a human driver that needs to be paid $15 an hour or the software. For the time being we can assume a taxi and an RT costs the same in terms of hardware.
Let us say RT can be used for 20 hours a day - leaving 4 hours for maintenance / charging. So, per day we get
20x15= $300 a day or $9,000 a month or about $100,000 a year.
So, an RT can replace human drivers who need to be paid $100k per year (min wage). That is really the "value" of RT.
This is the reason, in other countries, RT may be of different value. In India it might be just $10k per year (so, clearly not worth it) or some $20k in China - so is it really worth it ? At $100k a year on investment of say $50k for the RT, clearly RT is a sound business.
Ofcourse the question of demand, utilization etc will dictate the actual revenue - just as it would for a Uber driver or taxi operator.
"Tesla Model 3, prodotto il primo esemplare. Ecco com'è la berlina compatta di Musk" by automobileitalia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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Let us say the minimum wage is $15 an hour. A lot of Uber/Lyft drivers actually make something like or even less that once all costs are accounted for.
All other costs of operating a RT is no different than operating a taxi service. Utilization of a taxi can be as high as RT when using drivers in shifts. Both RT & Taxis need to be cleaned, serviced, charged etc. The only difference is who is driving - a human driver that needs to be paid $15 an hour or the software. For the time being we can assume a taxi and an RT costs the same in terms of hardware.
Let us say RT can be used for 20 hours a day - leaving 4 hours for maintenance / charging. So, per day we get
20x15= $300 a day or $9,000 a month or about $100,000 a year.
So, an RT can replace human drivers who need to be paid $100k per year (min wage). That is really the "value" of RT.
This is the reason, in other countries, RT may be of different value. In India it might be just $10k per year (so, clearly not worth it) or some $20k in China - so is it really worth it ? At $100k a year on investment of say $50k for the RT, clearly RT is a sound business.
Ofcourse the question of demand, utilization etc will dictate the actual revenue - just as it would for a Uber driver or taxi operator.
"Tesla Model 3, prodotto il primo esemplare. Ecco com'è la berlina compatta di Musk" by automobileitalia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail