11–20 of 91 posts
I didn't realize that Apple would be getting into the car rental business, I hadn't been paying attention. The Tesla model seems more palatable, where in theory you are allowed to "hack" your car because you own it.
> That will require a major overhaul of technologies like the above-mentioned CAN-bus that is four decades old and employed in every car (including, believe it or not, in a Tesla). I don't understand why the author keeps banging on about CAN bus being an old standard. So what? CAN bus is used in the automotive industry because of it reliability and low wire count. Why should it be changed?
CAN is great for real time control, and a huge number of embedded components support it. I don’t see it going away any time soon. That said, it does not have a lot of bandwidth. There will need to be something higher bandwidth to support modern info-tainment systems. A second, high-bandwidth network with less strict real-time requirements.
Navigation and playing music? Both are done by other systems as CAN already.
Since I'm a programmer I'd make the car-o-future modular. A kernel and different replaceable hardware and software modules. It bugs me how hard it is to customize a car now and the high cost of it.
Having a modular car with a high degree of customization would be a huge hassle in keeping cars safe.
The third point is extremely close to how trucks have always been built. Body-on-frame construction has been prevalent in the automotive industry for a very long time. Ever see a crazy classic car body dropped on top of a truck frame, i.e. a 4x4 60s mustang on a bronco frame?
Yes, conceptually the "skateboard" makes sense, but you're not going to have actual snap-in components like that. By Tesla's own admission, thinking of the Model X as just another body on top of the Model S skateboard set them back a long time. Whether you choose to go the traditional unibody design, or a more unconventional exoskeleton design like the cybertruck, each body is specifically made for each model type. While the Model Y is a "jacked up" model 3, the body is a completely new and different thing.
he compared cost, performance, regulations, but I didn't see him tackle the issue of range and recharge times not even in passing.
> It is the only way forward.
with claims like these, skipping the two major drawbacks seems quite intellectually dishonest.
Since I'm a programmer I'd make the car-o-future modular. A kernel and different replaceable hardware and software modules. It bugs me how hard it is to customize a car now and the high cost of it.
I had a truck with a hard to reproduce software bug where the electric steering assist would just turn off. Imagine going down a canyon road towing 5000 lbs and the steering suddenly gets extremely hard and the wheel rips from your hands. I had it happen. Luckily there is still a mechanical shaft going to the steering rack.
I didn't realize that Apple would be getting into the car rental business, I hadn't been paying attention. The Tesla model seems more palatable, where in theory you are allowed to "hack" your car because you own it.
I definitely don't want people to "hack" their cars and drive on the same road as me.