The most interesting bit, to me, was: "Enable your car to make money for you when you aren't using it" Things are gonna get real interesting in the auto world in the next few years, aren't they?
yes indeed, and not just autos
Master Plan, Part Deux
511–520 of 705 posts
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#512My points of skepticism: 1. Semis . A typical long haul semi gets well under 10MPG. In some cases not much more than half that. They are heavy and need a lot of energy to move. A Tesla Model S weighs 4650 lbs and has a range of a couple of hundred miles. A semi truck can weigh up to 80,000 lbs. That is a lot of weight to get rolling and a lot to pull up a grade. Semis spend a large part of their time driving at highw…
> Semis spend a large part of their time driving at highway speeds where air resistance is at a maximum. Why would a self-driving cargo vehicle drive at highway speeds? A human truck driver can only drive 11 hours/day, an autonomous vehicle can be on the move 24/7 and so could travel at slower, more efficient speeds while completing trips on similar time scales. > To achieve useful performance an electric semi will n…
Even though he said Semi, I don't think he meant an interstate tractor-trailer. I expect to see a replacement for the typical urban box truck, that is used to make local deliveries.
1. It's local, so it's always near a charger 2. They're smaller, so easier to build in their existing factory space 3. Possibly the biggest perceived win for the environment, as people wouldn't see exhaust soot anymore right outside their window 4. Stoplights - the box trucks spend more time accelerating from a light, so they need torque. Something that electric motors have from a dead stop.
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#513Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't figure out what you're trying to say. You think it's bad he wrote it himself, or good? Are you saying his writing it himself was a mistake, or wasn't? And it does or doesn't sound formal enough? It needs rigor and doesn't have it, or it does have it?
He should have written it with more formality and more rigor. Tesla is a public company and there is already a perception among investors that this is a facade. Musk needs to reposition Tesla as less of a personal experiment/quest and more of a legitimate enterprise that acknowledges its fiduciary duty to its shareholders. Tone and communication are very important in this regard. This release failed to adopt a tone a…
I'm not a shareholder, but his tone always strikes me as honest and smart. I hate reading corporate statements full of vague and formal language, and always feel that they're hiding something with it.
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#514Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand, why would you need self driving cars if you don't want to drive? Public transport is here, is cheaper and safer. Also it allows to multitask.
Well.... public transportation requires infrastructure which is not always around. In the south-east USA, for instance, there are public buses here and there but they rarely go for more than a few miles, and there are no trains or subways to travel mid-distance or between cities. So grey-hound or car rentals are your best bet unless you already own a car.
I'm in one of the most crowded and traffic-ridden of the world, non-US. We have a growing rail complex and a good and frequent bus system. I perceive car ownership as masochism, as public transport is always faster, and you don't have to care about parking, gas, taxes and all the other burdens associated with cars. Electric cars won't solve these, e.g. many cars can self park, but you can't save the time spent searching for a parking space, self drive or manual. It also won't save you from traffic.
There are also legal questions about self driving. For example if my theoretical fully self driving hits a passenger on the zebras that hasn't dresses up for the liking of radars, who is guilty? Certainly there needs to be put in place a big infrastructure for interautomobile communication to effectively avoid crashes. Infrastrutture is unavoidable.
This is like saying: if the electric infrastructure is not good and widely available, then give everyone a generator.
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#515a
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#516[deleted]
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#517Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/756004029239472132
That's what the rest of the industry refer to as autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection. It's a few years old now, there's been some vague talk of eventually making it mandatory, and you don't have to automate normal driving in any way to get the safety benefits from it. (In fact, I suspect it's probably better if it's not part of Autopilot, since then there's going to less risk of the driver not payi…
To achieve IIHS Top Safety Pick+[1] you have to have front crash prevention, so it's "mandatory" already if you want your car to be perceived as safe.
1. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/ratings-info/front-crash-pr... 2. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings
Disclaimer - I work for GM, any opinions are my own.
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#518Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well.... public transportation requires infrastructure which is not always around. In the south-east USA, for instance, there are public buses here and there but they rarely go for more than a few miles, and there are no trains or subways to travel mid-distance or between cities. So grey-hound or car rentals are your best bet unless you already own a car.
I'm in one of the most crowded and traffic-ridden of the world, non-US. We have a growing rail complex and a good and frequent bus system. I perceive car ownership as masochism, as public transport is always faster, and you don't have to care about parking, gas, taxes and all the other burdens associated with cars. Electric cars won't solve these, e.g. many cars can self park, but you can't save the time spent search…
Self driving cars and public transportation are not mutually exclusive though. Think of how convenient it would be when buses and taxi operate just as easily at night as during the day. One of the reason why cabs are more expensive at night in some cities is because you have to pay the driver more to provide the service at night. Same with buses.
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#519Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find the obsession with "turning a profit" when it comes to Tesla a bit weird, especially on this forum. Remind me again: this is Hacker News run by Y Combinator, right?
Remind me- is Tesla a for-profit corporation or are they a non-profit organization? Making a profit is sort of the main point, though obviously not the only point. They've been around since 2003 so it's not like they're a scrappy Y-Combinator incubator company.
Musk founded Tesla with a vision to make the world more sustainable, and not with the vision to become obscenely rich. Being profitable is a means to an end for him, and not the other way around.
And that's fine. The founders of a company are free to specify its purpose in the company's articles. There is no legal requirement that says corporations must seek profits.
Re: Master Plan, Part Deux
#520> The most important reason is that, when used correctly, it is already significantly safer than a person driving by themselves and it would therefore be morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability. I don't think this is the correct comparison. A car used correctly is safe. We have huge numbers of road accidents because most people are unable t…
Humans are the very definition of imperfection and thinking that you are capable of "correctly using a car" that is, never make the mistake that will cause a terrible accident is a big problem. It's probably why so much people keep resisting evolution like autopilot, they can't admit that even them can someday fail and crash. They believe that if they are good drivers they will avoid it. Sadly very good drivers die e…
> should it saves its owner or the kids in front of it?
I seem to remember reading a paper postulating drivers unconsciously always try to avoid crashing their side of the car into hard objects.