To the point, cars still have 4 wheels for the same reason wagons had four wheels before cars existed: 3 wheels are much less stable, 5 adds significant complexity, and nothing other than wheels would be as efficient.
Hoover crafts, helicopters, planes, ... all have no wheels (for transportation).
I wasn't meaning to be specific about the 4 wheels, I was trying to point out that innovation happens when necessity makes it necessary - why do we have batteries in cars even though the very first cars[1] were electric?
>>> Ironically cars have basically not changed since the 1900s: 4 wheels, a steering wheel and a polluting oil-based engine.
>> What would you use to replace the 4 wheels
> Hover crafts, helicopters, planes
None of those are "cars"
Computer technology has not been capable of self-driving until now. Some would say it still isn't.
Likewise, battery tech has been practically useless for cars for over 80% of the time cars have existed. Sure, electric vehicles held the land speed record in 1899 -- when the record was 105km/hour. The practical range of an electric vehicle was less than 100 miles as recently as what, fifteen years ago?
In the past 100 years the top speed of everyday vehicles has increased by 2-3 times, the mileage has doubled, and vehicle comfort, safety, and reliability have increased by an insane amount. To say that no progress has been made is absurdly mistaken.
They have changed. The basic utility is to go from point A to point B. They now do that about 3-10 times faster and more comfortably and reliably than they did when they started.
If generative AI gets 4 times better than will matter a lot.
Sure we're now (100 years later) moving to computer steering and rare-earth elements batteries but the 4 wheels remain!
We have peaks in technology, then tend to profit before the innovation restarts - when profits sink.