Earlier quoted context omitted.
A thing to note on looks: there will be a number plate to complete the looks. And remember there are at least US and European versions of that to consider in the design. This is entirely subject to personal taste, but Alfa Romeos' (e.g. 147) fronts look nice in PR, but look hideous with a number plate attached literally "wherever there is some space for it". New Audis suffer from similar problem: even though the numb…
Is it legal to put the plate behind glass/plastic (for aerodynamics)?
Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
211–220 of 257 posts
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
>auto-braking, lane keep assist, automatic cruise control, and similar I bought a mazda cx recently with all of these feature. I must say I don't find any of these really useful, but again I don't text while driving. I think these features breed a false sense of security and encourage users to text while driving. Features like these should be introduced only when they can protect users from all cases of distracted dr…
> I must say I don't find any of these really useful, but again I don't text while driving. Lane keep assist is just a quality of life thing. You get on the highway/motorway, get in your lane, and it makes subtle movements to keep you centered in the lane. It doesn't drive for you. So for example on windy days when the wind is pushing you constantly one way, Lane Keep Assist counteracts that lateral movement. On a st…
This could be very useful in LA, where the traffic NEVER goes at a single speed for more than about 30 seconds.
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
I pulled onto I-5 behind a Model S once while riding my 750cc Honda and was really impressed by the fact that I simply could not keep pace - it pulled smoothly ahead like it wasn't even trying. I have never seen any other car do that; it's part of the fun of riding, since cars on the freeway typically feel like they're all half asleep.
Get an S1000RR, an RSV4 or an R1 and you can go back to treating any Tesla like a normal sleepy car :)
Hah. I am too much of a hooligan to let myself acquire a proper sportbike; I get into enough trouble as it is. I'm actually thinking of switching to a BMW K75 or K100, since I'm no longer commuting via bike (nowhere to park downtown, alas) and something suitable for long weekend cruises might get more use.
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
>That feature alone could reduce total crashes by 10% [1] Well, ofcourse. I am talking about ppl become less safety conscious because these features give them (false) sense of security. eg: Anti-Tsunami walls killed more people than they saved during great japanese tsunami because they gave people false sense of security and ppl didn't take evacuation warnings seriously assuming walls would take care of it. And ofcou…
> eg: Anti-Tsunami walls killed more people than they saved during great japanese tsunami [..] And ofcourse studies proved that having Tsunami walls is safer than no walls. Huh? So walls killed more people than they saved but studies showed that they are safer with the walls..? I googled this, cannot find any information that the anti-Tsunami walls caused more people to be killed.
>Huh? So walls killed more people than they saved but studies showed that they are safer with the walls..?
Studies was done with average tsunami heights from previous tsunamis. 2011 was magnitudes higher than previous ones, walls were no match for the tsunami.
>I googled this, cannot find any information that the anti-Tsunami walls caused more people to be killed.
I remember seeing this in a documentary, where they were interiviewing poeople whose famalies died becuase they thought walls are going to save them.
I googled it now, this was the first result
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/22/japan-to-build-massi...
'The paradox of such projects, experts say, is that while they may reduce some damage, they can foster complacency. That can be a grave risk along coastlines vulnerable to tsunamis, storm surges and other natural disasters. At least some of the 18,500 people who died or went missing in the 2011 disasters failed to heed warnings to escape in time.'
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#215"Musk said the company was hoping for 0.21 drag coefficient. That's exceedingly sleek." I looked into this. 0.21 is insanely low for a production car. How come this isn't bigger news? This alone is fascinating.
The Model S is already at 0.24 (most efficient car in production)
The VW XL1 is the most efficient car in production. According to VW's site, it comes in at 0.186.
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are probably overestimating the jerk from that. 5mph has (1/12)^2 = 1/144th the energy of 60mph. Passengers often don't pay attention to what's going on and breaking force is generally not enough to really mess with people. That said, the default is not going to be stopping within 1-2 inches of pedestrians, rather it's going to gradually slow down to deal with pedestrians while trying to maintain forward progress…
You're right of course. It's hard to imagine any useful vehicle spending much of its time moving at only 5 mph, though, so I suppose I'm really imagining what such a stop would be like from a more normal travel speed like 20-25 mph.
I am picturing this more as an extreme edge case than anything else. If a person can safely do 20-25mph in an area then a self-driving car should be able to do the same thing.
It's the edge case where a car needs to cross a really high traffic area that's going to be an issue and people can't do 20mph right in front of a high traffic box store entrance etc. Further, going slow for a few hundred feet really does not take that long.
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Self driving cars don't use GPS, it is not reliable or granular enough.
At all? How would it drive to the mall on the other side of town without GPS?
Directions plus a bevy of road sensors. Basically the same way you do.
It may use GPS supplementally, but never primarily.
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
I read the Musk bio this fall and it gave me the impression this is Musk's typical style. Unlike Jobs, who would rehearse endlessly, Musk tends to be more off the cuff.
It may be, but as I referenced in my original post, he was much more polished and looked way more comfortable when he was comparing the battery swap to refueling an Audi. I just would expect that launching the "car that will save Tesla from bankruptcy" should have had a bit more polish.
Yet they have 300k preorders lready. Sounds like a lot of people didn't really care how well rehearsed Musk was.
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
The $1000 is 100% refundable. A person that can afford a Tesla can afford to put down $1000 with no risk. Heck, even a normal middle class person could probably foot $1000 at no risk. Reservations are not sales. They are just something to tout to shareholders. If they wanted real numbers they'd make it non-refundable and up the down payment. The stock trades at an absolutely insane valuation (it's actually valued not…
>If the orders don't come through This is absurd. Do you seriously think that Tesla wont have every single Model 3 sold the moment it comes off the line? People were waiting in half mile long lines for days to pre order a CAR.
I never said that they wouldn't get a single order, that's ridiculous.
Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
He says in the reveal presentation that Autopilot hardware will come standard on the 3.
Yes, and it will have standard safety features like automatic braking that use that hardware. But what does that have to do with whether or not the Model 3 design is based around fully autonomous driving?
He said the hardware would be standard meaning that Autopilot will be a software unlock. The software safety features are enabled by default.