Secret Uber takes the lead in deploying automatic driving

The scramble for building a self-driving car network has quietly begun. Uber recently launched a limited test of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, which is part of its collaboration with automaker Volvo. Singapore’s self-driving car startup nuTonomy also launched a limited test of self-driving cars in front of it, and signed a cooperation agreement with Southeast Asian taxi giant Grab.

The news was so encouraging that the self-driving car that really beckoned itself actually appeared on our side. Does this really make us happy? But in fact, these limited tests that are being conducted are actually nothing.

The real test of the viability of autopilot technology will not come until the first official launch of a self-driving car network. For any company that is struggling to build a self-driving car network, the first to launch an officially-operated self-driving car network will certainly give them a huge advantage, but for Uber, this is not just an advantage, but simple. It is about its survival.

Uber's valuation has reached as much as 70 billion U.S. dollars, so it is under much greater pressure than other competitors. As Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told Bloomberg in an interview: "Basically, the development of self-driving cars is related to our survival."

This is because Uber’s market share is in danger if it falls behind others when it comes to launching its own self-driving car network, and it has invested a lot of time and money in order to gain more market share.

Without a lot of market share, Uber may not be able to provide satisfactory returns on investment for company supporters. Without these return on investment and business scale, Uber may not be able to maintain its current valuation.

The key to running a taxi service efficiently is to have enough drivers to meet passengers' needs. If a competitor, say, Lyft, launches 100 autonomous cars in a city, then Uber spends a lot of time and money trying to gain market share.

A self-driving car can easily receive 100 businesses in a single day or receive 4 orders in an hour, while an Uber driver receives only 1 to 2 orders per hour on average and can only work 12 jobs a day. hour. At full play, an Uber driver can only receive 24 single-business transactions at a time.

This means that 100 Uber drivers receive a maximum of 2,400 single businesses a day, while 100 self-driving cars can easily receive nearly 10,000 single businesses a day. This is only a rough calculation and comparison, without taking into account the fact that Uber could not tell the driver how long they must travel. In fact, when Uber promotes its services, it highlights that the driver’s working hours are very flexible. According to a Uber survey, 52% of Uber drivers were part-timers in 2015.