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Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

nytimes.com

211–220 of 254 posts

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#211
post #188

The insurance / responsibility question really shows how moronic bureaucracy has made us. To rephrase naysayers in a more first degree way: "sure there would be less accidents than when the vehicle is driven by a glorified ape, but for the fewer people still killed or maimed, we wouldn't be sure whom to blaim. So we'll keep killing more of them through ape drivers, rather than rush the paperwork-rethinking trauma".

Eh, a half-dozen really smart companies are pursuing self-driving technology. If it were really a concern enough to keep it off the market, they wouldn't continue working on it.

Thankfully, morons don't indefinitely prevent progress, most of the time. But their existence, and the fact that they're not labelled as "painfully, obviously moronic" by most people / media is infuriating.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#212
post #32

Wow, I didn't realize they had been building in the necessary sensors all along. To just light this up one day for the existing fleet with an OTA update is nothing short of astounding.

Particularly since they didn't price the cars to include this feature.

Don't you need to buy the $4250 "Tech Package With Autopilot" to get this feature? It seems like that includes the various sensors for lane keeping and automatic cruise control. Or maybe every car includes the sensors, and you are just paying for the software?

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#213
post #4

An interesting implication of that statement is that all the hardware to make this functionality work is already in the vehicle if it's just a software update.

Why, yes, this blog posting from October 10, 2014, said that: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/dual-motor-model-s-and-autop...

[deleted]

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#214
post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> of course you may view all of those are insanely expensive Maybe I'm just cheap, but I do think those are all insanely expensive. Even $64k is more than twice the median annual income in the US, and $78-180k will buy you a decent house in most places that aren't SF/LA/DC/NY. I can't imagine ever wanting to spend that much money on a depreciating asset that's only major benefit over a $10k Honda Civic is as a status…

depreciating asset that's only major benefit over a $10k Honda Civic is as a status symbol. Some people think that driving is fun and think of having a car that is fun to drive as a major benefit.

A Fiesta ST for $22k would meet the "fun to drive" mark.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#216

I'm not positive on this but I believe Tesla either uses technology or licenses patents directly from Mercedes-Benz regarding their whole "self-driving" and "autopilot" marketing here. Case in point: my current car does a variety of self-driving tasks such as: - Autonomous braking - Active lane keeping assist to steer you in the lane if the radar and cameras detect you are swerving - PRE-SAFE collision prevention plu…

"standard features on non-high end Mercedes vehicles such as the S-Class with the appropriate packages."

The absurdity of this statement is amazing. Apparently Mercedes has brainwashed it's owners into a new definition of "standard".

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#217

Every time Elon Musk makes this kind of announcement, his engineering departments groan. As I understand, they have folks actively managing Musk trying to prevent him from promising the moon :)

I don't see why they would groan in this particular instance (although I can believe it in general). He's not promising anything in the near-term that doesn't already exist in other shipping cars, or that his own people haven't already demoed.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#218
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter how easily the information is found. By "doxing" I meant posting someone's personal details as a way of attacking them. None of us would want that done to ourselves, and we owe the same consideration to others. Nor is it needed for substantive discussion, which is the purpose of HN threads.

Am I doxxing myself by using my last name as my username, or by putting my real name, current position at my company, and my email address in my profile? The problem with your golden rule there is that you make assumptions about what other people want.

He said "as a way of attacking them." Are you attacking yourself by posting your personal information? No? Then the answer to your question should be obvious.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Particularly since they didn't price the cars to include this feature.

Don't you need to buy the $4250 "Tech Package With Autopilot" to get this feature? It seems like that includes the various sensors for lane keeping and automatic cruise control. Or maybe every car includes the sensors, and you are just paying for the software?

That last bit is precisely how it is. The hardware is there on all cars sold after mid-September 2014. The software features are divided semi-arbitrarily into "convenience" and "safety" features. All cars get "safety" features, but you have to pay extra for the tech package to get "convenience" features.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#220

I'm not positive on this but I believe Tesla either uses technology or licenses patents directly from Mercedes-Benz regarding their whole "self-driving" and "autopilot" marketing here. Case in point: my current car does a variety of self-driving tasks such as: - Autonomous braking - Active lane keeping assist to steer you in the lane if the radar and cameras detect you are swerving - PRE-SAFE collision prevention plu…

S-class is a high end Merc, but these features are also on the new 2014 C-class.
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