Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Electric Car

blog.geoffralston.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 349 posts

Re: The Electric Car

#31

Post by curiousjorge »

I think the article is overly optimistic and derives some sort of future prediction based on a simplified past performance of a totally different market. Tesla is a luxury , many of us can't afford it and if we could we would most likely opt for BMW or Benz.

The reason these other car makers aren't moving yet is they are learning from Tesla. You don't want to be a first mover in this industry, you want to move so slightly close to what everyone is doing but still differentiate yourself on brand. Cars today have vastly improved across the board regardless of make. To say gas stations will go out of business is ludicrous at best, Tesla will go out of business sooner as established car brands move in and hurt bottom line for Tesla. In the short while the euphoria towards Tesla will continue but it's headed for a not so pleasant ending. Great for humanity, bad for Musk.

Re: The Electric Car

#32

Post by thaumasiotes »

jtokoph wrote: post #8
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The truth is we're really not that close to fully-autonomous cars. Google cars are pretty damn close to level 4 autonomous vehicles. They've driven more than a million miles fully autonomously, and Google runs their self-driving vehicle algorithms against simulated virtual worlds constantly (with data previously collected from their self driving cars). We are so much closer to fully autonomous cars than people thin…

I've always thought that the Google cars have driven 95%+ of their miles in Mountain View, CA where every single aspect of the roads have been digitized, tested and tweaked a million times over. If you stuck one of these cars in a brand new city, it wouldn't work nearly as well.

Mapping the roads isn't challenging. How do you think humans perform at driving through brand new cities?

Re: The Electric Car

#33

Post by ececconi »

darkstar999 wrote: post #30

Someone has to be working on battery swaps instead of charging, right? That seems like such an easy solution to what most people consider the biggest problem with electric.

Tesla is working on battery swaps. The problem with it so far is that you have to return to the location where you swapped your battery to retrieve your original battery later, or be hit with a hefty fine.

Re: The Electric Car

#34

Post by mbreese »

jtokoph wrote: post #8
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The truth is we're really not that close to fully-autonomous cars. Google cars are pretty damn close to level 4 autonomous vehicles. They've driven more than a million miles fully autonomously, and Google runs their self-driving vehicle algorithms against simulated virtual worlds constantly (with data previously collected from their self driving cars). We are so much closer to fully autonomous cars than people thin…

I've always thought that the Google cars have driven 95%+ of their miles in Mountain View, CA where every single aspect of the roads have been digitized, tested and tweaked a million times over. If you stuck one of these cars in a brand new city, it wouldn't work nearly as well.

And the weather is nice 99% of the time. I'd like to see a Google self driving car work in the rain or snow.

Re: The Electric Car

#35

Post by soperj »

rickdale wrote: post #17

My big qualm with the electric cars that I don't read about is the 40minute-1hour charging. People complain that charging stations aren't near them, but the convenience of pulling into a gas station filling up and being ready for another 400 miles in less than 5 minutes is hard to beat. Even if the charging stations were all around, 5 versus 40-60 min is a big difference.

There's no way you fill your car in 5 minutes, and Superchargers are noted to take 30 minutes, not 40-60.

Re: The Electric Car

#36

Post by stellar678 »

While I'm all on-board for the importance and awesomeness of a wholesale transition to electric transportation, I think this essay leaves out some important considerations.

The primary one that pops to mind for me: people replace their phones every 2-3 years. (http://www.phonearena.com/news/Americans-replace-their-cell-...)

How often do people replace their car?

Re: The Electric Car

#37

Post by roel_v »

jtokoph wrote: post #8
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The truth is we're really not that close to fully-autonomous cars. Google cars are pretty damn close to level 4 autonomous vehicles. They've driven more than a million miles fully autonomously, and Google runs their self-driving vehicle algorithms against simulated virtual worlds constantly (with data previously collected from their self driving cars). We are so much closer to fully autonomous cars than people thin…

I've always thought that the Google cars have driven 95%+ of their miles in Mountain View, CA where every single aspect of the roads have been digitized, tested and tweaked a million times over. If you stuck one of these cars in a brand new city, it wouldn't work nearly as well.

That other company of which there was an article here a few months ago drove a car autonomously from LA to NYC. Volvo drives cars around Stockholm. BMW has self driving cars on the road. There are self driving trucks right now at work on oil fields in Alaska and in mines in Australia.

It's true that we're not really there yet. And yes there are hurdles like regulation, what about heavy rain etc. But the pace at which things are going...

Re: The Electric Car

#38

Post by rosser »

lvs wrote: post #21

I can't imagine what the iPhone has to do with an electric car. The post just refers to a software interface (which all cars now have), a network conncetion, and automatic updates. None of these relies on the powertrain of the car.

TFA is drawing a parallel between the way smartphones, as heralded by the iPhone, transformed the mobile phone market, and the way electric cars, as heralded by the Model S, will do to the car market.

That's what the one has to do with the other.

Re: The Electric Car

#39

Post by toomuchtodo »

roel_v wrote: post #37
jtokoph wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always thought that the Google cars have driven 95%+ of their miles in Mountain View, CA where every single aspect of the roads have been digitized, tested and tweaked a million times over. If you stuck one of these cars in a brand new city, it wouldn't work nearly as well.

That other company of which there was an article here a few months ago drove a car autonomously from LA to NYC. Volvo drives cars around Stockholm. BMW has self driving cars on the road. There are self driving trucks right now at work on oil fields in Alaska and in mines in Australia. It's true that we're not really there yet. And yes there are hurdles like regulation, what about heavy rain etc. But the pace at which…

Freightliner has an autonomous semi-truck (the "Inspiration") working on Nevada roads currently:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/self...

It (for now) requires a human driver, but operates at autonomous level 3.

Re: The Electric Car

#40

Post by beamatronic »

I see a very simple story: Among friends and family, I don't know anyone who would not get a Tesla, who doesn't already have one, once it reaches their price range. I also want to add that most folks I know are planning to make their cars last until such time as they can switch them out for a Tesla ( Model X preferably as a minivan replacement ).
Post reply on HN