You would just get a van or truck on demand. That's a huge benefit of on demand, self-driving cars - instead of having one car you try to fit into your every need, you get what you need and when you need it. So, something tiny if it's just you and your partner going to dinner. Or a van if you're taking kids and friends to an event. Or a truck if you have to move a sofa.
I have a sedan. 90% of the time it's just me in the car. Insane.
I am in similar situation to OP - I need a larger car during the weekends because I drive 200 miles away for certain events where I need to take loads of stuff with me. But during the week it's mostly me alone in the car driving to work.
I could rent a truck during weekends - but that would be ungodly expensive, especially since I'm under 25 so every rental company charges literally 2x or 3x for car/van rental to drivers under 25. Then I have to worry about returning it on time, and it has to be in perfect condition or again, I have to pay for anything that's damaged. If I scratch my own car - no biggie. If I want to stay overnight - it won't cost me another $100 per day of rental. And then the question is - is it really "better" for the environment/society/traffic to make two cars rather than one?
Why would they make two cars rather than one? Most people would be sharing cars in x years. There would be fewer on the road over all. You'll use the truck for a couple of hours and then until you need it again, it'll return to the pool of available cars unless you want to hold it for the day.
In the future, you won't be driving the car so I don't think U25 will be such an issue.
Well, even if I don't drive a car personally, I would still like to own one, to keep it personal. Sure, you could order one and it would pick you up, but then you are sitting in a seat that thousands of other people sat in. You can't leave any of your things in the storage spaces, because tomorrow you might get a different car. There's also the factor of hygiene that puts me off buses and taxis.
And they would make two cars because I would need one vehicle to go to work,and another to take my stuff over the weekend - rather than one vehicle which does both.
True. But you are talking about logic, which seldom matches human behavior. Humans are driven by other matters besides efficiency.
A car is a status symbol. This must be taken into account when advocating solutions that may transmit a lower status for its user, be it driverless cars, on-demand cars or something else. Ignoring it is futile because this is above all else what made cars so widespread. No other fact explains why some people have more than one car strongly than this.
Take the Segway, a wonderful device with much going for it except you looked stupid while riding it. It was a perceived low-status symbol and it failed because of that.
Lower prices for on-demand vehicles will mean that car ownership declines. Most people don't care too much about the brand of taxi or plane they take already. Once the price/efficiency mix is right, I will quickly ditch my second car.
I have a sedan. 90% of the time it's just me in the car. Insane.