GM announced the other day that it is bailing out of of its money-hemorrhaging $10 billion (so far) malinvestment in Johnny Cabs – aka, taxis without drivers (except perhaps talking AI-infused torsos, as seen in the ’80s Arnold sci-fi movie, Total Recall ).
The maker of the putative Johnny Cabs – Cruise – was bought for a mere $1 billion back in 2016. GM has lost about $1 billion every year since then on this malinvestment. And GM’s CEO – Mary Barra – still gets paid about $30 million each year to oversee such losses. Of a piece with the way former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavaras was paid even more to oversee the malinvestment in devices that will probably end up costing the Chrysler and Dodge brands everything.
I have italicized putative above because the Johnny Cabs were never actualized. There were a few awkward prototypes gimping around, bumping into things and or stopping in the middle of the road after a glitch of because the software got flummoxed by a situation it was not programmed to deal with. But that’s not what you want when you need to get somewhere – the point of hailing a cab. Hence the losses – as opposed to the gains GM expected to make by eliminating taxi drivers in favor of talking torsos that never ask to be paid and that could be kept working 24-7.
And not just taxi drivers, either – insofar as the gains GM had hoped (and continues to hope) will be made at some point in the dystopian future GM’s current management intends to create. It is a future in which you ride share a device rather than own and drive a car.
The latter is much less profitable, you see. Even at today’s prices, when you buy a new vehicle, it is yours. Most buyers have to finance the purchase, of course. But after six or seven years of making payments, the day arrives when the payments stop. And that is the very last thing some of the vehicle manufacturers – and their peripheral financing operations – want.
What they want is payments in perpetuity.
Enter the ride-sharing of devices. Each time you hail a ride – via the device you carry around with you that serves the same purpose as the ankle bracelet affixed to some home-release convicts – you get to pay. The trick being the individual payment seems small and thus the payer is led to believe he is paying less – plus no bother about having to house and maintain a vehicle.
This depends on innumeracy, something that has been purposefully inculcated by government schools – for the obvious reasons. People who cannot add tend to be people from whom money is subtracted.
The marks – whoops, customers – have also been encouraged to think of everything in the moment as opposed to the whole. Hey, this ride only cost me $15 – and I didn’t have to tip the torso! But how much do those rides add up to over the course of a week? Or a year? After six years? At the end of which, you own exactly nothing.
Are you happy about that?
GM – and it’s not just GM – would be very happy about that. A continuous revenue stream on the Bill Gates/Microsoft model. And of course it’s more than just the money. When you don’t own, you depend. On GM. On your good behavior. On the Chinese social credit model. You get a ride if GM allows you to hail one. If the government allows it. If either or both – and they are both increasingly the same – decide that for whatever reason, you must stay put then put you will stay.
Because where are you going to go? 
As far as you can walk – or bicycle.
The mere knowledge that your privilege to have access to mobility – this word is being substituted for driving for a reason – is no longer under your control and so can be rescinded at any time by the entities that do control it would likely be sufficient to instill the compliance that the corporate-government nexus lusts after even more ardently than Chris Christie does his next cheeseburger.
The good news – at least for now – is that the tech to make Johnny Cabs and automated ride-sharing work isn’t working. It is one thing to engage the autopilot in airplane, which flies a rigidly defined route with every part of the trip tightly monitored by the FAA. There are also relatively few airplanes flying the sky highway. A few thousand at any given time vs. millions, all the time. The driving environment is – thank God – much too chaotic for “autonomous” robo-things to deal with.
The vaunted AI isn’t intelligent enough. There are too many unforeseeable situations and variables that only a flexible human intelligence can deal with effectively. The sensors and cameras and “connectedness” that all of this depends on aren’t – thank God – very dependable.
At least, not yet.
In the meanwhile, we can hope that GM, et al continue to malinvest in Johnny Cabs and such for the same reason that it is to be hoped Chris Christie will continue to eat cheeseburgers.
. . .
If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos.
We depend on you to keep the wheels turning!
Our donate button is here.
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
PS: Get an EPautos magnet or sticker or coaster in return for a $20 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a magnet or sticker or coaster – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)
If you like items like the Baaaaaa! baseball cap pictured below, you can find that and more at the EPautos store!
You know, we used to have a very effective transportation system where you could cross country in speed, comfort, and privacy, enjoy a drink, and not have to do much yourself. They were called trains, and they were driven out of the passenger business by big business, government, and unions. Same as it ever was.
Rail passenger service wasn’t all that profitable to the big railroads. They were more than happy to get out of that business.
But, but…Elon said fully autonomous self-driving was ‘almost here’ back in 2017 already!
And that you’d be able to have your Tesla drive by itself from LA to NYC on your summon, and meanwhile double up as a self-driving taxi cab, earning money for you while you were at work. Which would increase its resale value dramatically!
He wouldn’t have been lying, would he?
Especially now that he’s on Team MAGA?
If you want to financially ruin a company (or country) put a gold-digging whore in charge, e.g.,
GM, Stellantis, HP, USA.
Strange thing to say given there has never been a female CEO at Stellantis or a Female President of USA.
Men seem to be doing a pretty good job of destroying things in their own.
Hey!
I LIKE whores, and they give excellent personal service for an agreed upon price.
Unlike pampered, spoiled, overpaid boss grrlz who seek to impose dysfunctional and delusional fantasy on the real world.
[NATO Head Says “Wartime Mindset” Needed; Redirect “Pensions, Health, Social Security” To Military Spending]
Off topic but sort of speaks for itself.
link
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nato-head-says-wartime-mindset-needed-redirect-pensions-health-social-security
But… but… Keeeeeeeeevvvvv!
Hi Ken,
I like that the comments on that piece basically tell NATO to pound sand. All these assclowns pushing for war with Russia should be sent to the front lines themselves, just like what Orange Man suggested for Liz Cheney.
“There were a few awkward prototypes gimping around, bumping into things and or stopping in the middle of the road after a glitch of because the software got flummoxed by a situation it was not programmed to deal with.”
Eric – you completely missed the Cruise incident where the car hit a pedestrian, then dragged said pedestrian under the car as it attempted to move to the side of the road.
Then the Cruise management failed to properly report the incident and then tried to cover it up.
And yet Mary Barra had no accountability in all this and still gets paid. Ugh!
IDK whether the problems caused by a self-driving car are more administrative and legal, versus technical.
The tech simply means that the problems have to be ironed out, and at some point, it has to be tried on public thoroughfares. Look at it this way: a modern airliner, though “piloted”, is in reality controlled by onboard computers, and guided by surface computers, both been overseen by human operators. I believe that even modern cockpit controls are designed with “tactile feedback”, as that’s been proven to be far more timely and precise, i.e., still permits “seat of the pants” flying, even if the pilot’s relying on what signals and related stick or wheel forces the on-board computer GIVES him. So, in time, a self-driving car should be able to surpass the proficiency of most drivers.
It’s the LEGAL aspects that I’ve got issue about. Ok, in most states, it’s the OWNER of the vehicle that has primary responsibility for any mishaps resulting from its misuse. If the owner happens to be a passenger, then it gets a tad more complicated, as, for example, can he readily take over in case of guidance malfunction? Of course, in the case of the real-life “Johnny Cab”, the answer should be simple: the fare-paying passenger(s) is no more responsible for mishaps than I’d be for hailing Yellow Cab or an Uber to take me to the airport. They should carry the same state-regulated liability insurance.
And, like all developing tech, save for whatever military-related reasons that FedGov might have, “Uncle” should stay out of it. Where in the US Constitution is any Federal activity with respect to automotive technology authorized?
Legal and societal. There are videos out there showing people screwing around with autonomous vehicles. Intentionally walking in front of them, blocking their way from all sides, etc. The cars basically just stop dead and won’t move. Then there are the rioters who attack them just because.
As I’ve said before, imagine the mess in the back seat of these things on Sunday morning. Or after New Year’s Eve. It won’t take too long until the ad-playback monitors are covered in graffiti and anything that might look valuable (or just available) will be stripped from the interior. People will make them into drug mules, homeless shelters, bordellos, toilets… whatever, it ain’t theirs, so why bother keeping it nice?
Um, I’m not sure what GM has done, but I have seen Waymo’s autonomous cars in action.
And I’m afraid their Johnny Cabs will be fully operational when your friends arrive…
Or are already so. I saw my first fully-unmanned car this year in Mesa, where Wayno operates. It was doing just fine navigating by itself, not a soul on board.
The time of the Johnny Cab is here, I’m sorry to say. You can order a Waymo ride in certain places right now.
https://waymo.com/waymo-one/
I don’t even like to be a passenger when my wife is driving, much less a got-damned computer chip. I’ll never ride in a car in traffic that has no driver. Ever.
I don’t even want them on the street anywhere near me. They are an intolerable danger to everyone and everything around them.
This is the age of machinery,
A mechanical nightmare,
The wonderful world of technology,
Napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare
20th Century Man
Hey Philo,
I’m not touting self-driving cars, I’m just saying that the technology is already here. It’s happening. Eric’s article speaks of it as though it’s a few years ago. Looks like GM just picked the wrong horse.
In any case, time will tell as data is collected on how well these things perform. Luckily, I get to watch from a distance now.
Search “AI Comedian”
In Eric’s defense – it’s a real stretch to say the technology is already here.
Even though you see Waymo’s driving it’s basically a parlor trick. They are cost prohibitive and constrained to geo-fenced areas, and decent weather. This is why they are in places like Mesa, Vegas, etc.
Put rain, fog, snow and operation in areas other than highly mapped, geo-fenced areas and it all falls apart.
The technology is great at getting people to infer far more operational capability is there than what it is actually capable of.
I’m not sure I’d call it a parlor trick, Burn It, but you’re right about the other issues. These things are never going to operate, for one, where there are no taxis, and yes, it will take some time to overcome the obstacle of inclement conditions, and there will always be some limitations. Luckily…
Of course, the bastards might eventually decide that if the weather is too bad for the Johnny Cab, it’s too bad for the rest of us, too.
At some point for GM and Stellantis the teat will go dry & they’ll expect yet another taxpayer funded bailout. Suppose Orange Man Bad has the wherewithal to say no? Let ’em go bankrupt and in Ron Paul-esque fashion tell the world that they failed & more astute businessmen and engineers can pick up the pieces to reinvest, reinvent, and reinvigorate the legacy automakers. A boy can dream, right?
Caveat: all men are pigs. The thing I remember most about Total Recall was the lady with three boobs.
Just one point of correction, with property taxes you NEVER actually own anything, even if you have paid off the debt.
Can be as simple as the annual registration fee. Even if you bought your ride for cash, you still have to pay that “rent” to operate it on public thoroughfares. And if you want to keep it a “trailer queen” (or “garage queen”), you’ll still have to pay a “non-op” fee as a form of personal property tax. Never mind all the schemes proposed to, with license plate recognition tech enabling it, assess a TOLL for passing on highways and roads that your FUEL taxes have presumably ALREADY paid for and still provide the maintenance thereof? The model being proposed in Calipornia is much like what they use for the toll bridges in the SF Bay Area, i.e, “FasTrak”, if you travel there enough, you get an account which is paid by your credit card each month for the tolls accrued. If you don’t have an account, the bill goes via USPS to your address on file with the DMV, and you get a fairly short period of time to settle up or be subjected to significant penalties. It’s now being extended to “diamond lanes”, which formerly required a so-called “carpool”, that is, 2 or 3 persons minimum in the car to allow its use. Now a lone driver can use it, for a PRICE, of course, which often gets stiffer during rush hours. What galls me about this arrangement, aside from the money grab (isn’t that ENOUGH?), is that “privileges” are suggested for EVs and/or hybrids. Tell me that doesn’t smack of elitism and a sense of entitlement, affluent libtards getting a free ride for the HOV lane for their SUBSIDIZED Teslas et al. An unfortunate byproduct of Elon Musk’s rent-seeking.
“And if you want to keep it a “trailer queen” (or “garage queen”), you’ll still have to pay a “non-op” fee as a form of personal property tax.”
You guys need to realize this is just your crappy state that charges fees on inoperative cars / property tax on vehicles.
Same for states with vehicle inspections which is just another tax.
Move for crying out loud! If you stay than you’ve consented to it. Sheesh!
In Oklahoma (a toll road state), if you are like me and have a Native American license plate, toll roads are “free”. Not “welfare” free, but free because the tribes do not have a good relationship with the current governor and refuse to cooperate. The state has no way of billing the natives like me because the native government refuses to share info for their registration system. When governments fight, we win. Sometimes…
The Cherokees had free hunting and fishing licenses for all of their citizens too until the governor ordered his game wardens to stop recognizing Cherokee licenses.
Oklahoma is OK.
I was under the impression that tribal nations operated under treaty with the FEDERAL Government and that things like their tribal license plates HAVE to be recognized under the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution (Article VI, second clause), which reads as follows:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
That is, OK and any other state has no choice but to “recognize” and give “full faith and credit” to a vehicle lawfully registered with a recognized tribal nation, with a US Treaty in force. No different than recognizing the validity of a Mexican or a Canadian vehicle in the USA, as we certainly have treaties with them that regulate vehicles.
However, I’m not certain that the Supremacy Clause can be cited as a reason for holders of tribal plates to drive “scot-free” on OK toll roads. Given that likely OK did away with toll collection booths, there’s no practical way to bill a tribal member if his tribe won’t divulge the pertinent info. Seems like this is a matter to be resolved in the Eastern District Court of Oklahoma if the Sooner State wants to pursue it bad enough. A bit like “Social Insecurity”, going against the Cherokee or Choctaw in OK is THEIR “third rail” of politics. BTW, if you’re not a member and get pulled over and cited on any tribal land, be prepared to deal with the epitome of a kangaroo court.
Absolutely. I got the fuck out over 20 years ago. Unfortunately, the way Germany is going, unless the AFD has a major landslide victory I may have to sell. In Mexico, the Leftist Government also may also push the Country off the deep end. If so, I’m not sure where to go.
El Salvador bears some consideration.
Their young president got rid of the gangs in one stroke and is about to convince the rest of the government to lift the ban on metals (predominantly covering gold) mining.
It is estimated there is enough gold there to equal more than 8 thousand times the current national GDP!
And there is already a thriving expat hi-tech community there.
Last but by no means least, given that the red/green enviro-‘mental’ types are apparently aghast at Bukele’s gold mining plan, it’s certain the plan deserves full support from anyone even remotely sensible.
Johnny Cab joined Starfleet Medical and eventually retired but he is now getting called back to teach at the Academy.
https://trekmovie.com/2024/11/01/robert-picardo-talks-about-playing-900-year-old-holographic-doctor-on-star-trek-starfleet-academy/
On the “Car Doctor” radio show a couple of years ago the host mentioned that a customer’s car was in the shop for a week or so and she had to use Uber to get to work and back. All told it cost more than double the cost of using her own car.
Any cost savings are purely in the mind of the idiots that push it.
I have never taken an Uber or Lyft in my life. I have taken a taxi once. I don’t like someone driving me around. I, sure as hell, don’t want a computer driving me around. I like the freedom of being able to control my schedule. Not waiting for someone to pick me up. The independence of coming and going when I please and to stop where I want. I think that is my biggest problem with this type of technology. I am famous for pulling over and visiting someplace that looks interesting on my way to the desired designation.
Just last week I made a six hour round trip to the Northern Neck for a client appointment. I stopped six times. From finding a good coffee for breakfast, to wanting a sub for lunch, and then seeing a cute local market that I did a U-turn for and found affordable fresh crabmeat and a really good peanut butter pie.
I cannot imagine these small freedoms being taken away. I believe we are more aware when we drive ourselves, not only to the road, but our surroundings. We end up missing taking in some great sites when we put control in someone else’s hands.
‘I have taken a taxi once.’ — Raider Girl
Taxi rides are a great introduction to overseas culture. Cabs in Asia often have images of Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy, hanging from the rearview mirror.
Once I was taking a cab to a district of Taipei, euphemistically called Lin Sen University. Noticing that we’d overshot the destination, I motioned to the cab driver that we needed to go back a couple of blocks.
Without missing a beat, he threw it into reverse and roared backward on the crowded street, dodging and weaving through motorcycles, pedestrians and street vendors to deposit me right in front of the nightclub where I was headed.
High entertainment! 🙂
You got that right!
A taxi ride from downtown Buenos Aires to the airport had my wife almost crawling under the seat in terror, as the taxi driver of a beat-up old Renault screamed down the crowded highway at 90 miles an hour, with one hand out the window giving other drivers the finger and the other on the horn.
My observation to the better half that the guy looked to be at least 50 years old, and if he had lived that long, he must be pretty decent at his job, didn’t win me any favors!
German taxis were big Mercedes in the late 70s. At 18 I had to concede that the drivers could be way more than trusted. I watched and learned as they flew along those skinny country lanes at warp speed.
If it ever came to pass where private car ownership disappeared, these little roadside shops and attractions would also go the way of the dinosaurs. There would be a huge negative economic impact and then some, which is why I doubt this will happen, at least not in my lifetime. Not that they won’t try to do that, but there will be a huge pushback against it.
That said, I have taken an Uber a couple of times, like when my car was in the shop and my husband needed the other one to go to work. I work pretty close to home so it was cheaper for me to get a ride. I have also used public transit in the past, and if I didn’t have my husband to drive me into DC I’d be on the subway. Driving in cities isn’t my thing, though I will drive into Baltimore as I have some familiarity with that city. But even when I went to college in Baltimore years ago, I’d ride the subway whenever possible, as parking could be a real bear.
IMO ride shares and public transit work fine in cities but not well at all in more rural areas. As for “Johnny Cabs” with no driver, forget it! I won’t be getting into any vehicle that doesn’t have a human operator. I’ll fly in a plane, but even with the autopilot there is always pilot or copilot there at the controls.
I like the way that, that Johnny Cab burst into flames when it hit the wall.
Very prescient.
Wisdom [sic] from the Lügenpresse:
An Epidemic of Vicious School Brawls, Fueled by Student Cellphones
‘Cafeteria melees. Students kicked in the head. Injured educators [sic]. Technology is stoking cycles of violence in schools across the United States.’ — NY Slimes today
Recognize the trope? Here’s an older version: guns are stoking cycles of violence.
And an older one still: unsafe cars are stoking cycles of traffic deaths.
So what do the frayed-collar scribblers of the Slimes think is gonna happen, when every vehicle is a cellphone on wheels?
No doubt if I were obliged to drive a car with a giant Clownscreen and omnipresent nanny tech, it would turn me into a psycho killer.
I can’t seem to face up to the facts
I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax
I can’t sleep ’cause my bed’s on fire
Don’t touch me, I’m a real live wire
Psycho killer
Qu’est-ce que c’est?
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa
Better run, run, run, run, run, run, run away
— Talking Heads, Psycho Killer
The fact that some folks can jump in their car and go where they want, when they want bugs the hell out of the Psychopaths In Charge. Looks like a number of car makers are committing suicide to make them happy. But not you.
That’s right. Freedom is a loophole. And they have people on it as we speak who’s job it is to close those loopholes.
All part of the attempt to scientifically manage society
‘We can hope that GM, et al continue to malinvest in Johnny Cabs and such for the same reason that it is to be hoped Chris Christie will continue to eat cheeseburgers.’ — eric
It’s working. A sobering chart of regional auto production proves it. During this century, China’s share of global auto production rose from 1 to 39 percent. Natürlich, this came out of the hide of the other regions:
Japan: 20% –> 12%
Europe: 34% –> 13%
USA: 12% –> 3%
Not only did the US start with the lowest share ex-China, but also it proceeded to lose three-fourths of it, leaving the US almost negligible as a global auto producer. Or ‘chickenshit,’ in rigorous statistlcal terms.
This is the toxic legacy of blind squirrels such as EeeVee Mary, Lightning Jim, and former CEO Carlos T (who was that masked man?).
They royally sh*t the bed. Now they are headed for bankruptcy liquidation. So what / who cares? *pops another brewski*
Well, I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer
Well, I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer
The future’s uncertain and the end is always near
— The Doors, Roadhouse Blues
And … *drum roll* … the chart:
https://ibb.co/sFcQJM5
All true, but:
https://youtu.be/exlMw5vOefw?si=LNzMOAGUsMokyDKo
Eric, the veterinarian has shit for brains.
Biden has shit for brains, Blinken has shit for brains, McTurtle, if you have seen the video, has no brain at all, it’s gone.
Bibi’s pea-brain was all shit from the day he was born.
Fuck all of those people, they all have shit for brains.
Everything I eat turns to shit.
I still have my brain, what’s left of it.
If I were 50 years younger, I would make a beeline to southern Arizona and make a go of it there.
I still might do it, even if I am too old to work too broke to quit.
Amen, Drump!
If I were 30 years younger, I’d seriously consider Russia – or maybe Argentina. But I’m too old to start over – and too young to retire!
Doesn’t really matter where you go, Psychopaths In Charge may show up any minute.
25 years ago New Zealand was considered a libertarian Mecca. Now, not so much.
Especially after that Ex-MO, Jacinda Ardern, was the Kiwi’s PM from 2017 to 2023. What a nutcase. When LDS stray from the “herd”, well, they tend to be “doozies”.
Hola Eric, The few belongings I still have are going to charity or the trash. In a few weeks I’ll be out of the place where I’ve live and worked since 1994. People ask me my destination and flip out when I tell them the Crimea or St. Petersburg, Russia, not FL.
What’s funny is that in that interregnum between the falls of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 and the actual dissolution of the USSR two years later, I speculated then that Russia would become a free(er) country than it had been since the Tsars, though certainly not “free” by an reasonable US Constitutional standards. But I also predicted that the USA would become more “socialist”, as even then there was a gaggle of domestic leftists, and that even the loss of the “worker’s paradise” would simply mean they’d turn inward.
Was I WRONG?
Hi Douglas, no you certainly weren’t wrong, you were (sadly) spot on. Looks like the USSA is on the same path to dissolution as the USSR.
The high school here sponsored a foreign exchange student from Argentina some 17 years ago now. Another foreign exchange student from Germany also attended high school the same year. My son became friends with both.
Long story short, a group of high school students, foreign exchange students included, along with more of my son’s friends gathered at the house and partied for hours in the back yard, booze and all. They were 17 years old.
Was it a crime to let underage adults drink to their heart’s content?
Catalina from Argentina was enjoying plenty of margaritas that evening, it was fun to watch the fun take place.
Rules are made to be broken.
Chris Christie eating fries….lol
French Fries Contain The Same Chemicals as Cigarettes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPV2kq94U3k
Driving vs. Mobility
One is Freedom, the other, dependency. One is the ability to move about freely, the other is the jerking motions while swinging at the end of a rope.
Not to be dramatic or anything…