Autonomous cars coming soon

[OGShaman]

Elon Musk said this week that his company Tesla is 5 or 6 years from having an autonomous self-driving vehicle that is 10 times safer than having a human behind the wheel. Of course it will take several more years before they get lawmakers to get on board.

I think at first it will start out as an optional system, and then after the technology proves itself, and the only people that are still getting into car accidents are those that are still driving themselves, it will just be come "the way" and maybe even "the law".

Who knows?!?!

Tesla CEO Musk Sees Fully Autonomous Car Ready in Five or Six Years

http://online.wsj.com/articles/tesl...ous-car-ready-in-five-or-six-years-1410990887

Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the technology to make a fully autonomous car will be ready in five or six years, and the result will be vehicles far less likely to harm occupants and others on the road.

"They will be a factor of 10 safer than a person [at the wheel] in a six-year time frame," Mr. Musk said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Once the technology is available, it likely would take several more years, however, to work out the regulatory impediments, he said.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla is working on its own autonomous driving technology for its electric vehicles in addition to talking with auto suppliers. He said he expects more suppliers of autonomous vehicle parts to emerge in coming years.

"Tesla is going to do quite a bit of development itself," he said. He didn't mention any development partners by name.

Mr. Musk said "machine vision," or the ability for a computer to quickly recognize objects, is the biggest technological impediment to fully implementing the technology.

Determining what an entire object might be when only a piece of it is visible by camera or radar is a key issue for the technology to determine the correct course of action for a vehicle. "It's kind of scary: what's going to become of us humans," he joked.

In addition to his forecast about autonomous vehicles, he said his company expects to start generating strong "free cash flow beginning in the third quarter of 2015" and could pay for the construction of its planned battery factory without additional borrowing. Tesla raised $2.3 billion earlier this year through a convertible bond offering.

Tesla plans to build advanced batteries at a so-called gigafactory that could cost up to $5 billion, along with partner Panasonic Corp. 6752.TO -0.38% , in an industrial park 15 miles east of Reno, Nev.

Much of the free cash flow should come next year as Tesla ramps up production of its Model X sport utility vehicle, which is expected to begin deliveries early next year. Mr. Musk has told Fox Business that he expected to sell 15,000 next year or 20,000 if "things go especially well."

Mr. Musk also said demand for the company's current, $71,000 and up Model S isn't a problem. "We have a waiting list, but not intentionally."

He also said the company needed to build more service centers before it ramps up sales further.

Tesla isn't working on vehicles beyond the Model X and a planned lower-cost sedan called the Model 3, but he said that "significant" product news is in the works.

When asked how the broader auto industry is progressing on developing a market for electric vehicles, he said "we're behind."

"The big car companies have been a lot slower than I thought," he said.

 

[stoned-trout]

that company is taking off.. they got a spot now for making batteries out of state then they are doing another one in state soon....

 

[m314]

Google's self driving cars have already driven over a million miles with zero accidents. They think they can cut accident deaths and injuries by 90% once the technology is fully adopted.

It will be interesting to see how it works out. I'd guess the first self driving cars on sale to the general public will have controls for a driver. At some point they'll start selling cars with no steering wheels or gas / brake pedals. Just get in the car and tell it where you want to go.

 

[LEF]

they've been delaying launching the electric car like it was some kind of orgasm

 

[RicoT]

Would need more burner cars than phones to have one….
Everywhere you go tracked like a snail..
Cool.. As long as none of them hit my regular old car

 

[stoned-trout]

computers fail..anything made by man fails...I will be the last one driving oldschool till they pry the wheel from my cold dead hands...cant wait to see the first computer geek doing a carjacking lol...its bad enough now some cars can be shut down remotely....not me mofos

 

[unclefishstick]

good,it cant come soon enough in my opinion,most people on the road are idiots

 

[dddaver]

It will be good that impaired drivers would not be driving. How about open containers?

I can see this creating a whole new set of problems. You get pulled over, cop says, "Sir have you been drinking?" Me, "Hell no I wan'nt drivin' oshifer. Where da hell am I? How did I get in thish gawdamn thing anywaysh?" Him,"Okay you can go, just hit that reset button and slow it down a little." Me"Yesh shur, I'll be careful."

 

[stoned-trout]

would be great for deliveries..pack car and send it on its way...yeehaw

 

[Stoner4Life]

I'm more interested in the upcoming Elio, a narrow stance 3 wheeler getting 84 mpg, 0-60 in 9.5 seconds and a top speed over 100mph; comes standard with am/fm, power windows, power door lock, 3 airbags, ABS & traction control, heat & a/c too. it's a 2 passenger with tandem seating. Will be made in Shreveport LA @ a former GM factory.

a waiting list of over 34,000 buyers and $6,800 base price.




EDIT:

Would need more burner cars than phones to have one….
Everywhere you go tracked like a snail..

and Rico's 100% correct, every trip you make in that Tesla will be leaving a digital trail, your route, speed, time of travel. Divorce lawyers will relish the info available to prove cheating spouses, LEO will use it against citizens in court.

Miss a car payment??? They'll know exactly where the car last stopped. Fuck!!! they'll probably over-ride the system and have the fucker repossess itself, drive itself right into the impound yard.


Tesla can name that model Grande Fratello, that'd be Italian for Big Brother.......

 

[LEF]

does this mean no more drunk accidents ?

 

[RicoT]

Seems this shit would be an insurance nightmare too. Does all liability not shift from the driver of the vehicle to the manufacturer of it...?

 

[krunchbubble]

TESLA is bullshit. 90% of Tesla's "engines" blow with in the first 14k miles....

VERY good friend of mine is a lead tech...

I can go deeper into detail if ya want...

 

[tropicannayeah]

Yes, do tell us more inside info about Tesla krunchbubble

 

[tropicannayeah]

personally, I can't wait for auto drive cars. It will be great to get somewhere without worrying about all the other dickheads on the road doing something stupid while I'm having a smoke and/or a beer.

road rage will be a thing of the past.

 

[Goatstroker]

No more rubber necking morons backing traffic up for miles to look at a fender bender.

No more jackwagons using the on ramp to hit 30mph and not understanding why they can't merge onto the freeway.

No more DUID for some random amount of THC in your blood.

Remember folks, driving on our roads is a privilege anyway. You have no entitlement to it.

 

[SirSteely]

Can we find a way for Detroit to come back alive building these smart cars? I want mine with heated and cooled massage bucket seats , a big screen tv and x-box12 please.

 

[LEF]

Detroit ?

only in Detroit

 

[LEF]

wellwishes Detroit

 

[trichrider]

hydrogen.