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. [Reply]
We’ve had similar vehicles in Phoenix metro for a while. Waymo. I’ve taken them. Kinda prefer them to Uber/Lyft. You can just put in the your earbuds and chill. No awkward small talk and no tipping. [Reply]
Car: we have determined that your social score is below acceptable levels. Please remain seated as we deliver you to the nearest reeducation camp for processing. [Reply]
Basically when you ride in those things you’ll be a gerbil in a shoebox.
The government will just drive you straight to the Soylent Green factory. [Reply]
I saw a pretty funny video (looked real) where a cop pulled one of them over for a traffic citation and the cop and the guy in back seat were looking at each other like "I don't know WTF to do either".
Wonder how the car knew to pull over if true. [Reply]
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
That's the truth.The owner of the company and I took an Uber yesterday early morning from the hotel to the airport in Chicago. The dude was hitting 90 plus on the way to the airport and hanging about a foot off anyone's car that got in front of him. This guy was driving so crazy, he would make Rashee Rice blush. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bwana:
That's the truth.The owner of the company and I took an Uber yesterday early morning from the hotel to the airport in Chicago. The dude was hitting 90 plus on the way to the airport and hanging about a foot off anyone's car that got in front of him. This guy was driving so crazy, he would make Rashee Rice blush.
Apparently the Waymo driverless cars are getting fucked up all the time out in San Francisco. People are slashing tires, tagging them with spray paint. Pretty sure they are doing it with passengers in the cars. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bwana:
That's the truth.The owner of the company and I took an Uber yesterday early morning from the hotel to the airport in Chicago. The dude was hitting 90 plus on the way to the airport and hanging about a foot off anyone's car that got in front of him. This guy was driving so crazy, he would make Rashee Rice blush.
I was specifically envisioning my time in Chicago while typing that
Nothing like being trapped in a musty vehicle with the heater on full blast while the driver weaves in/out of traffic and is hard braking for 40 minutes [Reply]
Originally Posted by Spott:
If there’s no pedals or steering wheels, then why are the people that own them referred to as drivers? This also sounds like a way to put Uber/Lyft drivers out of business.
There other ways to make money on the side besides Uber/Lyft driving. Although I admit Uber/Lyft have been overall great for society there are plenty of crimes that have been committed both to and by Uber/Lyft drivers. If this new technology can avoid that while making the roads safer then this should be great for society overall.
My only problem w all this if AI ever decides to go Skynet all this can be used against humans. So AI needs to be regulated extremely closely as it gets smarter, smarter, and smarter. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Perineum Ripper:
Apparently the Waymo driverless cars are getting fucked up all the time out in San Francisco. People are slashing tires, tagging them with spray paint. Pretty sure they are doing it with passengers in the cars.
