11612 replies to this topic

[Tom Braybrook]

just asking?

 

 

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[Mike K.]

I think the person who made that list forgot about Jerry cans.

[lanforod]

I think the person who made that list forgot about Jerry cans.

Had the same thought, but you still gotta fill that jerry can up somewhere first...

In any case, electric is better in practically every way... except the biggest one: cost. Also, missing form factors and issues with some uses cases such as long range or heavy load situations. 

[North Shore]

Heavy loads?  Freight trains are about the heaviest load that I can think of - and they are all diesel-electric.  What other heavy loads?

[Victoria Watcher]

probably means heavy loads that would erode battery capacity fast.

[Mike K.]

Heavy loads?  Freight trains are about the heaviest load that I can think of - and they are all diesel-electric.  What other heavy loads?

 

That is true!

[Victoria Watcher]

TuSimple has raised $1.08 billion in an IPO after the autonomous trucking rival to Tesla and Google priced shares above its range ahead of the group’s market debut on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

 

Almost 34 million shares were sold for $40 each, giving the San Diego, California-based company a market value of $8.49 billion, based on the details of outstanding stock in its filings. The company sold 27.03 million shares, while a selling shareholder sold 6.76 million shares, TuSimple said.

 

Shares in the group fell as much as 17% before bouncing back to settle 4% lower once trading began on the Nasdaq COMP, +1.31%. TuSimple’s hotly-anticipated initial public offering bucked recent trends by not going public through a merger with a blank-check, special-purpose acquisition company.

 

 

https://www.marketwa...ion-11618495532

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 April 2021 - 04:59 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Two people were killed in the fiery crash of a Tesla and authorities say there was no one in the driver's seat, although it is not clear whether the car's driver-assist system was being used.

 

A Harris County constable told television stations in Houston that there was a person in the front passenger seat and another in a rear passenger seat after the wreck in the Houston suburb of Spring.

 

Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said authorities are certain that no one was driving the car at the time of the crash.

 

“They feel very confident just with the positioning of the bodies after the impact that there was no one driving that vehicle,” Herman told KHOU-TV.

 

 

 

https://www.usnews.c...re-deadly-crash

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 April 2021 - 05:51 PM.

[Rob Randall]

It would be very interesting to learn the circumstances and exact cause of death.

[Victoria Watcher]

It would be very interesting to learn the circumstances and exact cause of death.

 

it sounds like burns or smoke inhalation.

 

i suppose if it was a suicide or murder/suicide or homicide they might have died prior to the crash somehow.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 April 2021 - 06:16 PM.

[Rob Randall]

I'm more interested in how long they were conscious and the extent of their injuries, basically what I'm saying is were they trapped.

[sebberry]

It would be very interesting to learn the circumstances and exact cause of death.

 

Might never know.  Were they playing a game with Autopilot where they jumped in the back seat?  Either way, tragic, horrible way to die.

[sebberry]

Thought this was a good read:

 

https://www.caranddr...-problem-is-us/

 

 

 

Super Cruise's Biggest Problem Is Us

Over 380 miles on I-95, Super Cruise drove for 346. It also canceled 25 times, in the process revealing the biggest hurdle for autonomy: unpredictable humans.

 

Traffic flows smoothly until it doesn’t. Sometimes you get a bit of advance warning, a glimpse of flashing blue lights up ahead, or Waze calling out a chunk of truck tire in the road. But most of the time, you’ve just got to react. Like when I’m on I-95, heading back from a trip to Florida in the 2021 Cadillac Escalade, and traffic abruptly—and I mean, panic-stop abruptly, and for no discernable reason—slows from 70 mph to roughly 15 mph.

 

The twist to this particular situation is that the Escalade itself is driving, inasmuch as its Super Cruise driver assistance system engaged, and thus I’m touching neither pedals nor steering wheel. And in fact, the Escalade initiates its own braking when the car ahead slows down. But I can see the two cars ahead of that going nose-down under hard braking, so I intervene and mash the brakes preemptively while doing two other things: eyeing the emergency lane to my left, in case I run out of room, and checking the rearview mirror to see if anyone behind me is running out of room—in which case, I’d also ditch to the emergency lane. And I nearly do, right about the time I see the 18-wheeler three cars back start to jackknife, brakes locked and smoke pouring off its tires. What’s your move, here, Super Cruise?

 

 

[...]

 

 

 

 

And can I just say how much cooler 'Cadillac Super Cruise' sounds compared to 'Tesla Autopilot'?  Or Datsun's 'Pro Pilot Assist'?  Or Ford's 'Co-Pilot 360'?  I mean, what is that? Antivirus software from Norton?

 

Anyway, good article and it talks about issues like poorly painted lines, which if Victoria council ever actually wants cars to drive themselves so humans stop mowing down cyclists with their 3,000lb death machines, they'll have to fix.

[Mike K.]

When computers can see the lines on Victoria’s streets, we’ll know the machines have won.

[Victoria Watcher]

When computers can see the lines on Victoria’s streets, we’ll know the machines have won.

 

[Mike K.]

What's odd to me, is that the Tesla didn't have a sensor to identify that a driver was actually sitting at the wheel. You'd think that would be a basic safety feature?

[Rob Randall]

^That stuck out at me too. The seats are already wired up for heating and cooling. A smart person could defeat a sensor by putting a suitcase on the empty seat but we're not talking about smart people here.

 

The part about people seeing what an autonomous car can't see is interesting--cars going nose-down, police lights, heavy smoke, the sound of squealing brakes etc.

[lanforod]

There probably is a weight sensor already (for seatbelt alarms), but I guess it isn't programmed to prevent autodrive if noone is in the drivers seat.

[Victoria Watcher]

does the driver seat really need a weight sensor for seatbelts?

[Mike K.]

My Caddy has a weight sensor for seatbelts, and chimes if you're sitting in the driver's seat without the belt fastened. Get out of the car and it stops chiming.