Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

Post by Goronmon » Fri, Aug 07, 2015, 1:54 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #113

dkokelley wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While most if not all "concept technology" has its roots in the "we can do it, even if we don't know why we should" school of thought, I imagine this will be valuable for self driving cars. Imagine a car that can drop you off at work, drive itself to the closest robo-charger, and return to pick you up with a full charge, all without needing an attendant. Given the current limited range of EVs, tech like this will lik…

That's how we end up with inflatable bbqs. This really looks like a rich person's toy, of no practical use. Many people have talked over the years about self-driving cars dropping people off and heading home. That sounds great in terms of the number of parking spots, and might make sense in cities where parking costs more than rent, but I cannot see how doubling the number of trips can reduce traffic congestion. The…

Post by nekopa » Fri, Aug 07, 2015, 2:40 PM UTC

daveloyall wrote: post #88

daveloyall wrote: post #77

Tesla cars will be self-driving soon, right? Let's call such cars 'robots'. Isn't there some convention against allowing robots to re-fuel without human intervention? Isn't such a rule in the same class as the rule against giving them the keys to the armory?

I'm just saying, in a world where self-driving cars go rouge, we're gonna want to deny them access to charging stations, and the charging snakes make it just that much harder.

Post by chrisbennet » Fri, Aug 07, 2015, 3:09 PM UTC

chrisbennet wrote: post #190

ams6110 wrote: post #133

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There are several much simpler ways a robot car could connect itself for charging. This is just gee-whiz tech for its own sake, and it's fine for Tesla to do, don't get me wrong. But as someone who can't afford to buy a Tesla, and who wouldn't spend that kind of money on a car even if I had it, I'd rather see the R&D going into more affordable, more practical EVs that I might actually consider purchasing.

But that is The Tesla Master Plan. Pay for the R&D with luxury vehicles before producing more adorable ones. Build sports car Use that money to build an affordable car Use that money to build an even more affordable car While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/secret-tesla-motors-master-p... (August 2006)

Post by seanflyon » Fri, Aug 07, 2015, 9:36 PM UTC

vlunkr wrote: post #52

Do they really intend to release this, or is it just an experiment? Because there's no way that thing is going to save enough time to be worth the cost.

Post by cam- » Sun, Aug 09, 2015, 12:20 AM UTC

shostack wrote: post #178

NextPerception wrote: post #141

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I completely agree. I came here to say this but see you beat me to it! I might add that this could be used to park your car miles from where you live. You would simply let your car know when to pick you up and it would come to you like calling the valet at a hotel before heading out. If tesla had overnight parking garages/chargers scattered around we could use all that garage space in our houses for more activities!

That's a really interesting thought once you consider where autonomous vehicles are going with Uber and Google's self-driving vehicles. It makes a ton of sense that any such vehicle, in addition to going to pick you up, drive you around and drop you off needs to be able to park itself at home base and refuel in an automated fashion.