CYBERCAB - WILL RESIDENTIAL CAR PARKS BECOME OBSOLETE?

On 3 September, Tesla began offering rides in its new purpose-built Cybercab in limited areas of Austin, Texas - and it got us thinking about Auckland real estate.

Parking has always been at a premium here, but if cheap, on-demand autonomous transport eventually becomes commonplace, could owning a car - and the car park that goes with it - become far less important? 

• No driver required – no steering wheel or pedals.

• Hail it from your phone – it comes to you, takes you there, then moves on. 

• Potentially super-cheap transport – Tesla says Cybercab could eventually operate for under US$0.30 per mile, perhaps around US$0.25. 

• Less need for parking? – Tesla argues autonomous vehicles could spend more time transporting people and less time sitting parked.

• Back to the future? – could Auckland eventually return to something closer to the original villa and bungalow model, where the house and land mattered more than accommodating cars?

Auckland's public transport may never match London or New York - but if an affordable Cybercab can simply appear when we need it, perhaps the humble car park won't always command the premium it does today.