Robotaxi. No steering wheel or pedals!

[HemiEd]

We have several electric car threads, but this is bye week and the first time I have noticed no steering wheel or pedals. Just wow.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the highly anticipated robotaxi last night, a driverless, $30K vehicle called the Cybercab. Tesla says the car—which lacks pedals and steering wheels—will go into production by 2027. The company also debuted a 20-person robovan and touted its Optimus robots.



The debut is almost a decade in the making and comes amid a series of lawsuits and investigations over Tesla's supervised driving vehicles. The company's investors hope robotaxis will generate almost 90% of Tesla's value and earnings by 2029. This would involve drivers being able to rent their vehicle through an app when not in use, earning passive income in a "part Uber, part Airbnb" model. Tesla hopes electric vehicle sales will eventually account for only 9% of Tesla's value.



Tesla is not the first company to pursue this model; Google’s Waymo already services 100,000 paid rides per week, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix. Amazon's Zoox is coming soon to San Francisco.

[vonBobo]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I like the idea of its use at airports. Actually saw a guy get into a Waymo at Sky Harbor the other day and it did kind of feel like a movie

I also like the idea of an automated ride where you can control the internal climate. My biggest gripe with cabs and rideshares, especially to/from airports, is the aggressive driving and its always stuffy af in the vehicle or their bundle of Black Ice air fresheners are burning your nostrils, or they want to talk, etc

Uber does all of this now for more expensive rides. If you don't want to tell your driver to shut up in person you can just set your preferences in the app and it will tell the driver to shut up for you.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by DaFace

People are shitty drivers and could kill you just as easily.

Curious, do you trust AI more than the average human to make emergency decisions?

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by vonBobo

Uber does all of this now for more expensive rides. If you don't want to tell your driver to shut up in person you can just set your preferences in the app and it will tell the driver to shut up for you.

A premium to not get talked to during a 5am trip to the airport

Yeah just automate that shit

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Old Dog

what could possibly go wrong?

Alot less than if it was driven by a person that's for sure

[scho63]

Used Uber this morning at 6:45 am from my home to Sky Harbor Airport. My driver was a chatty Cathy.

Now in a taxi in Nashville to hotel since 150 in Uber queues and 0 in taxi. Actually cheaper by a few bucks. $37 vs $42.

He is Ethiopian and I understand little of what he is saying and I like that.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by scho63

Used Uber this morning at 6:45 am from my home to Sky Harbor Airport. My driver was a chatty Cathy.

Now in a taxi in Nashville to hotel since 150 in Uber queues and 0 in taxi. Actually cheaper by a few bucks. $37 vs $42.

He is Ethiopian and I understand little of what he is saying and I like that.

Did he say that he is the captain now?

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Curious, do you trust AI more than the average human to make emergency decisions?

I'd want to see data, but there's a reason why pretty much all modern cars are coming with collision avoidance and lane control capabilities - humans suck at both. As for the broader question, my understanding is that Google's self driving cars have been far safer per mile driven than human driven cars, though that's in limited situations. We'll have to see on Tesla's version.

On the whole, if NHTSA decides they're safe enough, that's good enough for me.

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Curious, do you trust AI more than the average human to make emergency decisions?

At what point which companies AI cars are safer than human drivers in which conditions is up for debate... But presumably at some point AI will win.

But there are issues.

If the number of AI only cars is limited, whatever. But if they become a significant number, it raises issues in my mind.

I don't want to DC my response, but my previous post about car companies pulling cars out of hurricane zones and leaving people stranded wasn't intended to be complete snark. Sure, in theory regulations could prevent that. (Sure, Jan.)

And while the possibility is small, having tens of millions of networked cars all remotely controlled... These things are great until something goes wrong and then we discover how brittle we are making modern society.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'd want to see data, but there's a reason why pretty much all modern cars are coming with collision avoidance and lane control capabilities - humans suck at both. As for the broader question, my understanding is that Google's self driving cars have been far safer per mile driven than human driven cars, though that's in limited situations. We'll have to see on Tesla's version.

On the whole, if NHTSA decides they're safe enough, that's good enough for me.

That makes a lot of sense.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

At what point which companies AI cars are safer than human drivers in which conditions is up for debate... But presumably at some point AI will win.

But there are issues.

If the number of AI only cars is limited, whatever. But if they become a significant number, it raises issues in my mind.

I don't want to DC my response, but my previous post about car companies pulling cars out of hurricane zones and leaving people stranded wasn't intended to be complete snark. Sure, in theory regulations could prevent that. (Sure, Jan.)

And while the possibility is small, having tens of millions of networked cars all remotely controlled... These things are great until something goes wrong and then we discover how brittle we are making modern society.

Yeah, that is my concern as well. Giving up our freedom and independence along the way.
I have said it in the other self driving car discussions. I love the freedom of getting behind the wheel and being in control of where we are going and what we are going to do.
Many others look at it as a job or task they don't like, but not me.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Curious, do you trust AI more than the average human to make emergency decisions?

I trust AI and programming way more than I trust almost every driver on the road. Death and injury from car crashes would almost completely disappear if we only had AI/self driving cars.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Yeah, that is my concern as well. Giving up our freedom and independence along the way.
I have said it in the other self driving car discussions. I love the freedom of getting behind the wheel and being in control of where we are going and what we are going to do.
Many others look at it as a job or task they don't like, but not me.

I absolutely hate driving, but the main concern I'd have about self driving cars is a nefarious group hacking the system or doing something else to cause mass wrecks/damage.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

At what point which companies AI cars are safer than human drivers in which conditions is up for debate... But presumably at some point AI will win.

But there are issues.

If the number of AI only cars is limited, whatever. But if they become a significant number, it raises issues in my mind.

I don't want to DC my response, but my previous post about car companies pulling cars out of hurricane zones and leaving people stranded wasn't intended to be complete snark. Sure, in theory regulations could prevent that. (Sure, Jan.)

And while the possibility is small, having tens of millions of networked cars all remotely controlled... These things are great until something goes wrong and then we discover how brittle we are making modern society.

I don't think there is anything wrong with this thought or anything DC about it. I could easily see some shit ass company pulling all their fleet out of an area and absolutely ****ing everyone there. You would absolutely have to have legislation in place to prevent it or maybe insurance would be good enough to keep them from doing it.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

I absolutely hate driving, but the main concern I'd have about self driving cars is a nefarious group hacking the system or doing something else to cause mass wrecks/damage.

What kind of car do you have?

My Challenger and Ram are fun to drive but the Prius not so much. It is disgusting to drive, but gets 52 mpg.