Musk said today that the pictures of Robotaxis were actually pictures of cars that they just produced going to be parked. Tesla also confirmed that all robotaxis will be remotely monitored so if something happens they can be taken over by a human. But that means you better hope they have connectivity at all times. But how many times have you lost signal on your cell phone while driving?
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intercst
As the technology evolves and matures there will be accidents, and other bugs will be identified. Regulators, public, insurance companies, and investors will overreact. In the long run, technology will overcome.
Hopefully, Elon is not going to be distracted with other things and stay focused on the business. If he stays focused he can get the technology working.
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Robotaxi with graffiti-style logo on Austin street
intercst
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Team 2 is on a dead end path.
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Well, that sure is a disappointing lack of executive leadership.
They could easily save some money by crowdsourcing the graffiti work to the local populace.
Although, they certainly were on the right thought track by using a graffiti theme.
Disclaimer: Not a branding expert
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This is exactly how Waymo works as well. And so did GM’s Cruise before they shutdown. Ithink that if a car gets stuck or confused it can pull over (if possible) and phone home, get some hints as to what to do and continue on its new route if able. If it has to shutdown they probably send a driver and arrange for a new car for passengers.
It makes sense that this is how it would work for any robotaxi service
Mike
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That’s gonna be some pretty significant bandwidth costs. Mrs. Goofy took an 8 hour trip to the shore a few months ago, and using Waze both ways blew right past our monthly “allowance.” I’m not saying that’s an insurmountable roadblock, but it’s a cost - and one to be borne (somehow) by individual owners who want to put their cars in the fleet.
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I think your right , It is only logical. I suspect it will stay this way forever but as the service gets better they will use it less and less.
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It definitely is a cost, but apparently a low cost.
- The vast majority of people have an unlimited plan, either truly unlimited at higher speeds, or limited to some amount at high speeds and then unlimited at lower speeds (and those lower speeds are sufficient for operation of Waze and similar).
- Tesla vehicles (and most other modern vehicles) all have their own data line, and for $99/year it is unlimited (it’s not really unlimited as you can’t use it for a hotspot, but unlimited in the sense of the car itself can use as much data as it needs to use, and the customer can use as much data as they please to stream audio or video or other forms of entertainment like games, and it includes web browsing on the built-in browser.)
- I’m kind of surprised to find people still on limited data plans. My parents have a 55+ unlimited plan from T-Mobile that is reasonably inexpensive (and AT&T has a similar plan for two). I would switch to that plan, but I have 7 (or 8?) lines on my plan, all with unlimited data for $180-something a month. That’s me, my wife, 5 kids, and one of the cars dongle data device (that hasn’t worked in years). Not only that, but on my plan, T-Mobile gives me basic data in many countries around the world, so when we travel, we have data (slow-ish data) and text included. Basically, unlimited data isn’t a very expensive thing.
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I don’t know how robust the Tesla connection is, but it is going to have to carry video, no?
And my Ioniq6 has always on connectivity, just as my Kindle does. But I am sure the bandwidth that it has for simple things like “turning on the A/C remotely” or “updating the EV charging location” file is a lot less than is going to be required for a remote operator to figure out what to do if the car ventures into wet concrete or drags a pedestrian across the street. I would think some sort of “video” transmission would be needed, and that’s pretty fat electrons required.
You have two extremes between you and Divi… I don’t know why anyone would try to trivialize Musk achievement.
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May be in your mind… not in the marketplace.
If someone had said, Netscape has the absolute monopoly on browser, best technology, the debate is over… we have seen how badly that was wrong..
As much as robotaxi, and robots are “exciting growth” opportunities, both have heavy competition and at this point there is nothing to show Tesla has any edge.
Of course you and many investors believe Tesla has an edge and a $1 Trillion valuation. It is a show-me story.
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Something must be off here. No way there could be a general LIDAR only solution … no color, just for starters. And it certainly isn’t the most diversified.
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This will be in a well-defined, self-selected area …
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I don’t have any problem concluding Tesla is a leader or the leader in AV tech. But it doesn’t follow they have an insurmountable lead. Not long ago, we were having similar discussions about Tesla’s lead in EVs. The bull argument was that Tesla was years ahead of the competition and pulling away, therefore they would remain the dominant player in the market. They are still the dominant player, but losing sales and market share globally as other manufacturers are starting to field competitive vehicles.
I don’t see why AV tech will be different. The other day I saw there are three AV companies currently mapping Austin. Tesla might have the best AV right now, but I don’t see why other companies can’t match or exceed it.
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First, carrying video isn’t that big a deal. At any time there are probably millions of people using FaceTime. And the video could be a lower resolution and or lower frame rate when everything is OK and switch to higher quality when needed or commanded. (full quality stored in the car)
The data stream will also include lots of other data, such as GPS location, speed, direction, temp, battery SOC, message from passenger, etc. that consumes very little data…Uber and Lyft already do this as you see little cars driving around on the maps in the app.
I can see after some months of operation switching to a normally no real time video feed as long as a ride is uneventful, but video being recorded in car and the remote operator could get any of it in order to provide backup assistance, etc.
Mike
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Some of the sales loss is due to recent Musk actions. Set aside that, still as the market shifts from ICE to EV, naturally market share of $TSLA will go down, as others get into that space. The correct way to do is, how $TSLA has leveraged its first mover, if you can call it that way, advantage and how it is expanding its sales.
Today Tesla’s Model Y is the best selling car globally. That is not a trivial achievement. My concern with tesla is its valuation and Musk being who he is, that is a single person risk.
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The winner in autonomy will become clear in coming months.
Most of you don’t own or drive a Tesla. You resort to theoretical pontificating.
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May be… or you can say we are not influenced by commitment bias, and being bit away, we can objectively view it. 