Technology isn't there just yet.....but one day it will be. Just a matter of time.

I agree . . . except consider this: An "actual driver" would be able to react and make decisions more quickly in extreme scenarios IF they actually have experience driving in such conditions. I believe, like many automotive innovations, self-driving cars will breed countless drivers that have little experience actually driving, to the point that their inputs will be worse than letting the computer handle things. Not all, but many . . . and in my cynical estimate: most.

Personally, I believe this will be when self-drive is used the most. Forward-collision radar is working very well, and lane-departure systems seem to be working okay. A little maturation of these systems and I believe everyone driving in traffic would start using auto-drive while they go about other activities.

Will this increase or cure accident rates? I'd bet it would improve things overall, similar to how antilock brakes improve safety in most cases, but create a few drivers that become over-confident in their brakes and get in accidents that they would have otherwise been cautious enough to avoid.

My $0.02 .

GM says the Hummer EV will (with the right charge station) recharge 100 miles worth in ten minutes, thanks to a new method of charging. This is the threshold I see that will get electric cars appealing to mainstream buyers. Range anxiety goes away if usable range can be added quickly.

You know the folks (especially a couple of decades ago when cash transactions were prevalent at gas stations) that always put ten bucks in their gas tank so they don't run out? I believe the ten-minute quick charge will be the new version of that.

When the smaller "affordable" electric cars get to be mainstream, the ten minute charge will turn into a seven minute charge and put 125 miles in the tank, then there will be even more of that.

One of my predictions of the future as of this moment. Subject to change without notice.

Imagine how many restaurants will pop up halfway between points on popular drives like this. 300 miles is, say, five hours of driving? I'm sure The Google will get clever and add a car with lightning bolt as a travel option next to the car with no lightning bolt . . . and the bus and train and boat and pedestrian. Choose the lightning car and places like this will pop up along your route as recharge suggestions. Get a couple of hours in, get out of the car like the safety gurus are always insisting, plug the car in, have a bite, come out to an extra hundred miles of range, hit the road again.

My prediction, looking forward to seeing if I should have placed a wager on it.

I'm looking forward to seeing who invents a kit to add the following to electric cars:

- 2" receiver hitch
- 2" receiver hitch slide-in platform
- Gasoline-powered generator mounting kit for platform
- Gasoline-powered generator
- Wiring kit

Voila: Now the electric car is a hybrid for probably less than $1,000.00 .

Then all of the uproar when Tesla updates their software to prohibit charging while in motion (if they don't have that restriction already).

Then all of the press when competitors don't disallow this.

Speculation on my part, but at the conceptual level a little 2KW Honda generator is probably more than enough to keep an electric car'* charge level (that was full at the start of the drive) above zero for the duration of the generator'* fuel capacity.

I haven't done math on these numbers, just spitballing. Even if I'm off by a bunch, the concept would still help with range issues.

I think some people will plan around it, others will map out fast-charge locations, and still others will rent or borrow petroleum-powered cars for long trips . . . then post or blog or vlog or xlog or tweet or squawk or bloop or flap about it online, often with their feelings about having used a gas car and justifying why they did such a horrible thing, then promptly calling for the world to fix the "problem" for free.

I think this will be feasible when batteries get to be 10% the physical size they are now. Until then, one of the competition points between manufacturers is figuring out how many little tiny batteries they can fit in the space they have then telling the world why they did the best job of all of them.

. . . and there will be those that bypass safety restrictions to make one more buck than the station next door. I'm primarily thinking of ignoring or bypassing heat and charge restrictions to get the battery charged faster to turn it back out faster, and who cares if one in a hundred batteries melts 100 miles away. I'm sure there are other things I'm not thinking of.

They talk about re-generative braking adding power back into the battery. Last time I checked the field magnets and or the drive shafts could be converted into a generator.
When parked in summer sun, add roof glass solar panels.
For everything else there will be future super charge stations & soon. GM'* working on it.

It'* closer than many people think. The NIO EP9 already accommodates this. I suggest watching the whole video, but you can be a party pooper and skip to 3:32 for the battery "charging" procedure:
Translation of Europe-land measurements to `Murica measurements: 317kg * 2 batteries = 634kg * 2.2lbs/kg = 1394.8lbs of batteries in this car, 697.4lbs per side.