Major changes ahead as Uber plans autonomous vehicle rollout in Australia
Reality check: this comes city-by-city, geofenced, and over years, not months. Even if thousands of cars hit early pilot zones, it won’t be Circular Quay next Tuesday; it’ll be late-decade beachheads where weather, maps and regulators play nice.
FYI: Level 4 is driverless in a bubble: the system drives itself within a defined area/conditions (geofence). No human needed inside that bubble; outside it, the service won’t operate. This is what robotaxis aim for.
The safety shadow is long. Tempe, Arizona (2018): an Uber self-driving test car, in autonomous mode with a safety driver on-board, struck and killed Elaine Herzberg. The tech misclassified what it saw; the human didn’t intervene in time. That’s the textbook warning about edge cases and handover: machines struggle with weird situations, and humans get drowsy when the robot “mostly” drives.
Waymo – the grown-up of the bunch – proves two things at once: this can work and it’s messy. It runs true driverless services in selected US cities, but expansions have been stop-start after incidents, software recalls and politics. Progress, yes. Steamroller? No. What it means here: disruption is coming, but in waves. Some steering-wheel jobs will go; new depot/charging/cleaning/maintenance roles appear. If you drive for a crust, start hedging now.
Do you live near a test site?
What Level-4 needs: simple routes, low speeds, good weather/lighting, pristine maps, supportive councils, and places where a depot can handle charging/cleaning/maintenance.
Think loops and corridors, not “any road, any time”.
Top picks (near-term)
Brisbane: Airport and Skygate/DFO loop; South Bank–CBD circulator. Flat, well-marked roads, nice weather and a single landlord (airport precinct) to sort ops. Easy to geofence.
Perth: Elizabeth Quay-East Perth stadium precinct. Modern road furniture, clear lane markings, long sightlines. Event windows perfect for controlled, low-speed pilots.
Adelaide: Tonsley-Flinders Medical/Bedford Park health corridor. Innovation district + hospital precinct = short, repeatable shuttles with captive demand and friendly governance.
Canberra: Parliamentary Triangle-Civic loop. Wide, slow boulevards; consistent signage; a planning system that can actually say “yes”. Ideal for daytime only.
Gold Coast: Broadbeach convention/precinct circulator. Tourist loop, predictable flows, plenty of kerbside for pick-up bays and a depot nearby.
Melbourne: Docklands-Fishermans Bend innovation spine. New-ish grid, redevelopment control, university/industry partners for data, and space for charging depots.
Sydney (not CBD): Olympic Park, Western Sydney Airport/Aerotropolis. Campus-style roads, single precinct managers, and brand-new signage/markings. Far easier than wrangling the Rocks/George Street chaos.
Airport carpark shuttles – fixed routes, 24/7 demand, on-site depot.
Where it’ll struggle (early on)
Dense CBDs with trams, bus lanes, loading bays and random roadworks (Melbourne Hoddle Grid, Sydney CBD core).
Steep, twisty, tree-canopied suburbs (sensor occlusion, patchy GPS).
Wild weather, night-time glare (heavy rain, road spray, reflective signage).
Unscripted scenes (flashing emergency vehicles, protests, road crews doing “creative” traffic control).
Regulatory vibe check (short and honest)
States/territories allow AV trials under permits; production service still needs careful, council-by-council approvals. First movers are likely precinct operators (airports, ports, universities, health districts) who can control infrastructure and liability.
Takeaway: Level-4 shows up first as small, boring loops that run on time – airports, ports, precinct shuttles – then creeps on to simple urban corridors. If you’re picturing a driverless lap of Parramatta Road in a thunderstorm next year, pull over and breathe.
All-electric reality check
VW’s wobble, China’s tailwind, and the discount drumbeat.
Europe’s all-electric momentum is real but patchy. Buyers love the instant shove; they don’t love price, rates, or watching range vanish at 110km/h with a headwind and the A/C on “Darwin”.
Result: hybrids are hoovering share, all-electric sits in the mid-teens, and CFOs are landing a jumbo on one engine.
Porsche: went from profit prince to Q3 reality check. Pure-EV launches (718) pushed back; ICE/PHEV get a longer runway; battery plans trimmed; China price wars bite.
Call 2025 the trough, hope 2026 stabilises.
Mercedes-Benz: deliveries down in the US/China; all-electric (42,600 for the quarter) isn’t moving the needle. Merc CEO Ola says “highly dynamic,” holds guidance, orders $5bn buyback, stock jumps back.
Volkswagen: EU pauses and, here in Oz, the ID. Buzz cops a $13k-plus haircut to something closer to sane before year-end. They can see Kia’s PV5 and a conga line of Chinese vans in the mirrors.
China Inc: wins via scale, batteries, cost discipline. Europe slaps tariffs; China shrugs and localises.
Buyer tip: the early-adopter tax is alive. If you’re about to sign, ask for sweeteners – servicing, a home charger, mats, and a loaner that isn’t a 2012 Barina when the software throws a tantee.
The reasonably priced car of the year
We’ve argued like seagulls over a chip and our WART (Weekend Australian Road Tested) Reasonably Priced Car of the Year is the Honda CR-V. Five-seat petrol from about $44,700 drive-away. Why: 581-litre boot (bigger than RAV4), a square opening, rear doors to 90°, and road manners that feel premium without the badge tax. Cabin’s clean, ergonomics sane, aircon doesn’t need a Senate inquiry. Four safety stars, real-world fine. Sultan says “it’s a sweet drive”.
Runner-up: Subaru Forester. AWD standard, brilliant visibility, bombproof rep, high-$30k to $50k. Boot (498L) smaller, but it’ll do the snow run without drama.
Honourable mentions: Mazda CX-5 (lovely steer, smaller boot), Kia Sportage Hybrid (warranty + spec), and seven-seat dabblers Nissan X-Trail/Mitsubishi Outlander starting $45k-$47k.
Why Oscar lost (and why it shouldn’t become a habit)
Mexico City, no papaya pompoms. Lando vanished up the road; Oscar didn’t. Same garage, different race. McLaren’s “operating window” chat is cute; reality is they over-managed Oscar: wrong opening compound for his feel, congested launch, stop that glued him behind cars he shouldn’t be staring at. Lando got clean air; Oscar got thermal wake and tyre purgatory.
Do automatic car washes wreck paint?
Short answer: yep. Our friends at jalopnik.com say: Big flappy tunnels = sandpaper on a stick. If you love the thing, hand wash (ie: pay someone who does). If you must go automatic, touchless is the least bad. Home routine: two buckets, microfibre mitt, pH-neutral soap, separate wheels bucket, dry with a clean towel. Ten extra minutes now beats a machine polish and regret later.
jc@jcp.com.au
Post-truth PM breeds rank culture of deceit and deflection
Our own Stephen Ottley has revealed Uber’s Level 4 Aussie robotaxi plan – Nvidia brains, Stellantis hardware, Uber riders – and Steve reckons 150,000 drivers could be out of a job.