I've been thinking for years that fully-automated platooning / drafting should be a good option for self-driving cars. Run it via an app, cars make themselves available for drafting, others nearby sign up, they all line up and save energy. Could be a nice feature for Tesla, or a competitor, to augment the value of being in their network.
Obviously, this would rely on both self-driving and car-to-car communications to ensure simultaneous braking, acceleration, etc. to avoid accordion effect and chain-reaction collisions.
Charge-sharing as in this article could be a nice addition too. Also seems most plausible to automatically pay for shared charge in credits of some sort, or cash through the app. My biggest question is whether the shared charge would be sufficiently useful in comparison to the cost/maintenance of the extra moving parts. Seems like induction power&charging in sections of road could be more effective.
Obviously, this would rely on both self-driving and car-to-car communications to ensure simultaneous braking, acceleration, etc. to avoid accordion effect and chain-reaction collisions.
Charge-sharing as in this article could be a nice addition too. Also seems most plausible to automatically pay for shared charge in credits of some sort, or cash through the app. My biggest question is whether the shared charge would be sufficiently useful in comparison to the cost/maintenance of the extra moving parts. Seems like induction power&charging in sections of road could be more effective.