701–710 of 720 posts
Crazy idea: make cars that don't rely on microchips and software. As a bonus, they'll probably last longer, be cheaper to repair, and won't distract drivers as much. There is software in too many consumer goods, usually with very little benefit to the end user, beyond marketing and being able to justify a higher price tag (oooh, it's a "smart" toaster). I don't need the Toyota equivalent of an iPad on my dashboard.
Crazy idea: make cars that don't rely on microchips and software. As a bonus, they'll probably last longer, be cheaper to repair, and won't distract drivers as much. There is software in too many consumer goods, usually with very little benefit to the end user, beyond marketing and being able to justify a higher price tag (oooh, it's a "smart" toaster). I don't need the Toyota equivalent of an iPad on my dashboard.
I'm not aware of how you can do emissions monitoring through canbus (required) without chips. not sure how you can do rearview monitors (required) without chips. there are countless other things that are regulated that require chips. and competitor pressure for assisted driving technology like lane assist, blonde side monitoring, navigation/gps/etc all require chips.
the dream of going back to a chipless is a nice one imo, but they are just not legal.
Crazy idea: make cars that don't rely on microchips and software. As a bonus, they'll probably last longer, be cheaper to repair, and won't distract drivers as much. There is software in too many consumer goods, usually with very little benefit to the end user, beyond marketing and being able to justify a higher price tag (oooh, it's a "smart" toaster). I don't need the Toyota equivalent of an iPad on my dashboard.
unfortunately the volume of regulations regarding automotive technology doesn't allow for this. if Toyota or any other manufacturer wants to make a chipless car, first the law makers have to allow them to. I'm not aware of how you can do emissions monitoring through canbus (required) without chips. not sure how you can do rearview monitors (required) without chips. there are countless other things that are regulated…
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Just subsidize it. I'm not asking for the Fab Czar, I'm asking for the NSF, DARPA, and national subsidies for it. Accelerated permitting, tax breaks, tarif support, state vs national investments, accelerated green cards for key personnel, and price breaks for a "buy US Chips" initiative for the first 5 years until things get serious and exports ramp up. I'm spitballing over morning coffee, but come on, this seems obv…
Why do you keep using Giga $ instead of $3.5bn?
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unfortunately the volume of regulations regarding automotive technology doesn't allow for this. if Toyota or any other manufacturer wants to make a chipless car, first the law makers have to allow them to. I'm not aware of how you can do emissions monitoring through canbus (required) without chips. not sure how you can do rearview monitors (required) without chips. there are countless other things that are regulated…
There are some hurdles for sure, but for most of their history cars did not have chips in them, so we must have found a way.
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For anyone with a small commute I’d recommend this too. Our Yuba (spicy curry) has around 3000km on it over 2.5 years, is going strong, and I’ll still be commuting ~30km per week over the next year with it taking my 4 year old to daycare then going to work. I’ll likely continue commuting with him on it to kindergarten and perhaps early grade school. It wasn’t cheap initially ($7000 CAD), but the cost per km drops eno…
Seconding everything you wrote, especially “It’s a major quality of life improvement for us”. When we visit friends & family who live in typical car-centric neighborhoods we’re reminded of just how much time they spend sitting in cars, which is especially rough on kids. The bigger house & yard just doesn’t seem worth an extra couple hours a day sitting strapped into a car seat.
When you weigh the pros and cons though, the condo can be alright. It's not my ideal at all but the things like the yuba can make that lifestyle so much more livable. More time with the family, more time to get out of the home if we want to, quick grocery shops, less money on commuting, etc - I think it could be alright. We fortunately live in a small city where you're only an hour drive from nature, so I suppose we could turn that into our "yard".
The last thing I want is my kids sitting in a car for 30-60 minutes every morning on their way to school. Or on a public transit bus, transferring and rushing around so they can sit in school for 6 hours only to bus back the same way. I know plenty of kids do it and they're fine, it's all fine, but it's not what I want for them. I wouldn't want it for myself. There's something to be said about shedding ideals (especially with living situations) but letting my kids be kids is one I don't want to compromise on.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
unfortunately the volume of regulations regarding automotive technology doesn't allow for this. if Toyota or any other manufacturer wants to make a chipless car, first the law makers have to allow them to. I'm not aware of how you can do emissions monitoring through canbus (required) without chips. not sure how you can do rearview monitors (required) without chips. there are countless other things that are regulated…
There are some hurdles for sure, but for most of their history cars did not have chips in them, so we must have found a way.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are some hurdles for sure, but for most of their history cars did not have chips in them, so we must have found a way.
Cars are several orders of magnitude safer now than in the past and driver assistance is part of that.
I'm pretty sure you could design a car with few or no computers in it that would be on par with most cars on the road today in terms of safety. Sure, you'd lose some safety features like backup cams, but nothing that huge compared with earlier safety improvements.