A recent study carried out by researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor claims that autonomous cars could actually drink more fuel that the ones we currently have. The reason? More trips.
According to them, most households have more than one car that they use separately to run errands and commute to work and back again. These new cars would then be used to make more trips to achieve the same tasks and would in turn sip more fuel. Furthermore, the number of people that are sharing a conventional ride these days and are willing to switch to a self-driving one is unknown.
But wait, there’s more! According to their calculations, Americans could end up owning 43 percent less cars (from 2.1 to 1.2 per household) but in turn, they’d use those 75 percent more leading to more emissions and fuel consumption.
