Do I really want to end up reduced to riding Johnnycab everywhere? I don't think so! Manually-driven cars all the way!
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Driving is a skill worth knowing even in 2023 and beyond (especially if the world ends up taking a technological leap backward for any of a myriad of reasons). After all, Max Rockatansky and the rest of The Bronze in Main Force Patrol need their Interceptors-- "the last of the V8s"-- and AEVs (autonomous electric vehicles) wouldn't cut it in their environment.
Besides the obvious reasons of freedom of movement and control over both self and machine, here are a few points to consider:
| 1. Who would want to take a road trip using an AEV? |
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| Half the trip would be dead time as the battery pack is topping off. If you're just dudes doing dude things, it can get boring. If you're a romantic relationship, it's more opportunities to end up sleeping in the trunk. I'd rather watch paint dry or get my taxes done. For all that trouble with EVs, bus or train would be better options. |
| 2. Much of cinematic and television history is based on manually-driven cars. |
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| Imagine these movies done with AEVs: Thelma & Louise; Speed Racer; Smokey and the Bandit; The Blues Brothers; [Herbie,] The Love Bug; Wayne's World; Back to the Future; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; not to mention any in series such as Fast and Furious, Batman, and James Bond. Do we want cinematic history going forward to resemble Johnnycab from Total Recall? I didn't think so. |
| 3. Can AEVs be collected? |
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| While it's possible that AEVs can be collected in the same way as ICE cars, it just doesn't have the same feel to it. It's like ending with with a collection of mobile phones only because one replaced another; that is, we accumulated them. Jay Leno and Adam Carolla may have one or two AEVs in their vast collections, but more likely as curiosities than as objects of affection. |
| 4. Mods |
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| Part of the appeal of manually-driven cars is the ability to modify them for any reason at all: Hot rods, cop cars, lowriders, monster cars, love machines, racers, stretch limousines, beasts of burden, proof of concept... AEVs end up getting bricked for any of these modifications. |
| 5. Autonomy |
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| Mine-- not the vehicle's. In world where we still have freedom, I need to be able to override the AEV in case I encounter a situation beyond the AEVs programming. In a world where freedom doesn't exist-- such as in the dystopia being heralded by Central Bank Digital Currencies-- I can be prevented from moving because I voted for the wrong old guy or because my credit history shows that I had Kobe Steak dinners every day for a year instead of crickets. |
Why would I want an EV, then? I can use the EV to mine Bitcoin.
Other than mining Bitcoin, I don't have any reasons to go with an AEV. Yes, reasons exist; however, they aren't compelling enough to persuade me to go with them. The only way I would go with an AEV is by compulsion via force of law.
Manual all the way!
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