Robotaxi services must go beyond to be car replacements, and maybe even link up
Most self-driving players are aiming to build a robotaxi (and even Tesla recently announced even more effort on that plan, though they also remain dedicated to selling a self-driving car to consumers.) None of them, however, are spending billions on this simply to become a better Uber UBER -3.4%, just as Uber which is now many times the size of the old taxi industry, wants to simply be a better taxi. To move beyond that, they need to become a car replacement, so that some consumers decide that rather than buying a car (in particular at first, a second or third car) they will rely on a collection of services, particularly the robotaxi.