Live data from Hacker News

Tesla Robotaxi

tesla.com

691–700 of 788 posts

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#691
post #602

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's literally named "Robo taxi ", plus what makes you think people want to give ownership so easily?

Ahh, well if taxi is in the name then we are obligated to ignore everything else he said about democratizing transport, eliminating the concept of parking, etc. I'm not saying people won't want to own their own robocar, I'm saying this robocar is not particularly suited to ownership or to dedicated ridehailing or to really anything other than looking like a car Mr. Bladerunner from the hit movie Bladerunner would dri…

Musk has said many a things that bump his share price. I wish someone did one of those fact checkers for his Tesla statements, I doubt he's at 50% hit rate.

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#692

The RoboTaxi looks neat, but I don't get why it only seats 2 rather than just updating the Model 3? What's the utility of an entirely new production line for a car that is less flexible than the existing model that's built at scale?

Why wasn’t the Model X not just a Model S chassis with higher ground clearance and an SUV body?

Because it was a halo vehicle, and it worked out very well. The Model Y is literally a lifted and heightened model 3 because it's not a halo vehicle.

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#693
post #38
post #5

Love the design of the robocab. Assuming production looks something like this, can’t wait to see it IRL.

It's a slick design, but unless it's expected to be used in very limited scenarios, the lack of a control surface (or even how Tesla expects to build an OC) for edge cases is worrying.

An emergency joystick would be pretty cool. Actually, a joystick to give the driving AI input would be great too. "Maybe squeeze a little farther left here". "Slow it up, the road is sketchy here". "It's safe, drive faster".

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#694
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A single person's evidence isn't helpful. People doing testing at scale of Tesla's solution (even the latest version), have found a few interventions happen an hour (or at least per day), especially on busy streets or in situations where weather isn't complimentary. It cannot be truly an autonomous robotaxi without VERY HIGH reliability. One intervention per hour is one too many.

Cruise had driverless robotaxis on the streets while they had 2.5 to 5 miles per intervention. [1] I think FSD 12.5 is way beyond that --- I drove over 20 miles yesterday with zero interventions. Also, having ridden Waymo in San Francisco many times, I find that the FSD is actually slightly smoother and handles stuff like going around obstacles and blockages more naturally, although, as you are no doubt aware, there…

> Cruise had driverless robotaxis on the streets while they had 2.5 to 5 miles per intervention. [1]

And they got (rightfully) pulled off the roads.

> there are still some rough edges in rare cases

Waymo has substantially lower interventions.

And, they have a huge fleet of humans running around the city attending to the cars. A few weeks ago I saw one stuck - whoever had last used it, managed to trap a seatbelt in the door. It was sitting for about 5 minutes when a guy pulled up and fixed it and sent it on its way. I'm not saying Tesla can't build that, but they're going to have to.

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#695
post #649

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless you think LA should go London/NYC style and build a load of stations Why shouldn’t one think that? Wouldn’t this be a good solution?

Absolutely it’s a great solution. It will cost a few hundred billion and be done in the 2050s at best. When do we start? Call our local representative?

There are other alternatives. Short commute by bicycle to main stations a la french/dutch style. Requires less investment for safe bike lanes but it pisses off car people.

Trams are also much cheaper than metro or train lines and serve metropolitan areas pretty well but they anger house owners and nobody wants to take public transit, thats poor people stuff.

It will take a lot of disillusion from cars before any decent alternative gets traction. Took long in Europe and is still ongoing for most of it, it will take even longer in the US.

People might be stubborn enough to only turn away from cars when the big traffic jams are all made of self driving electric cars with one or two people inside going all to the same places.

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#696
post #651
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A single person's evidence isn't helpful. People doing testing at scale of Tesla's solution (even the latest version), have found a few interventions happen an hour (or at least per day), especially on busy streets or in situations where weather isn't complimentary. It cannot be truly an autonomous robotaxi without VERY HIGH reliability. One intervention per hour is one too many.

I agree. And the very important question is how quickly is it improving? What if it’s one an hour now, one a day next year and one a week in 2026?

That is a very important question, to be honest. And it definitely seems like it's getting more and more difficult for all of the self driving companies to reach "that next step".

> What if it’s one an hour now, one a day next year and one a week in 2026?

That is a MASSIVE "what if".

What's if it's 2036? What if it's 2056? Hell, if it's 2030 then Tesla is in _serious_ trouble.

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#697

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I wish people actually used it instead of reading biased news about it. Driving is so much stress free with it now.

Saw a Tesla swerve into the bike lane yesterday while driver was on the phone. Driver probably felt safe and that everything was in order. The cyclists not so much. Point is it's a matter of perspective. How many around you have to accommodate?

I own a Tesla and a motorcycle. I'll often ride while my wife is driving the car, and FSD is far more respectful of me than most cars.

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#698
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a slick design, but unless it's expected to be used in very limited scenarios, the lack of a control surface (or even how Tesla expects to build an OC) for edge cases is worrying.

I expect that the general handling of edge cases for any control-free robotaxi is that you call for emergency services, or an Uber, depending on severity.

The control-free stuff they're rolling out is generally being trialed or used on very narrow routes - roads where they've even built mild infrastructure to make it easier for AVs.

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#699
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cruise had driverless robotaxis on the streets while they had 2.5 to 5 miles per intervention. [1] I think FSD 12.5 is way beyond that --- I drove over 20 miles yesterday with zero interventions. Also, having ridden Waymo in San Francisco many times, I find that the FSD is actually slightly smoother and handles stuff like going around obstacles and blockages more naturally, although, as you are no doubt aware, there…

As a Tesla owner I can promise you there will never be reasonable human assistance infrastructure. Have to ever tried to get in touch with a human at Tesla short of driving to a service center. Almost impossible. It would be easier for me to get the president on the line. Having just purchased a new Tesla, I tried for 2 weeks to communicate with Tesla prior to purchase. The closest I even got was a phone tree, which…

> As a Tesla owner I can promise you there will never be reasonable human assistance infrastructure.

As a Waymo user I can promise you that there is, and they have it.

Re: Tesla Robotaxi

#700
post #235

Nobody talking about those gimmicky butterfly doors? I would bet some money that they will not make it into mass production. Not for a car priced unter $100.000

Why? Tesla likes cool doors, and the model X starts at $80k already.
Post reply on HN