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Any volunteers for Beta auto-pilot?


Stutopia

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I think twice before putting beta on my phone, I'd never touch a Windows beta on anything useful and think twice about their gold builds too. I'll certainly be at the back of the queue for car auto-pilot betas :lol:

 

No testing in live please!

 

What happens when Tesla’s AutoPilot goes wrong: owners post swerving videos

 

http://gu.com/p/4dft7?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

Tesla’s latest software update gave its Model S electric car the ability to drive itself with a new AutoPilot mode, but as a collection of owners have found out, two hands on the wheel are most definitely needed at all times.

 

The new feature, released in beta, uses radar and camera sensors to detect the distance to cars in front to judge speed and brake, while monitoring the white lane lines to guide it round corners. Several other cars from Volvo, Mercedes, Audi and others do similar, but have yet to be able to change lanes like Tesla.

 

On release, Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, said: “We’re being especially cautious at this early stage, so we’re advising drivers to keep their hands on the wheel just in case. The software is very new.”

 

The car will chime to remind drivers to put their hands back on the wheel, but that hasn’t stopped people experimenting – with hair-raising effects.

 

 

 

Near miss.

One owner found the car swerved in the direction of a lay-by when the white lines were not painted on both sides of the car, another swerved towards a car in the next lane while emitting warnings about an imminent side impact. The AutoPilot system has also been shown speeding and being pulled over by police.

 

Tesla is very clear about the fact that the driver is responsible for the car at all times and should be actively in control, despite the AutoPilot system: it will be the driver’s fault, not Tesla’s if the car ends up in a road traffic collision.

 

 

 

Following white lines is safe on the motorway, but gets dangerous fast when the lines start to blur.

The AutoPilot update will be released in Europe and Asia pending regulatory approval, according to Musk.

 

Beyond the AutoPilot system proving very much a feature in testing, the Tesla Model S has also had reliability issues highlighted in a report by US consumer testing outfit Consumer Reports, which ranked it below average.

 

A report by the company from its annual reliability survey details a list of consumer complaints from 1,400 people covering failings of major drive components, door handles not allowing entry into the car, wheel misalignments, boot latch problems, inoperable windscreen wipers, squeaks, rattles and other smaller niggles.

 

Despite the lower than average reliability, the same report found Tesla customers’ satisfaction as a “very high” from 97%. Many of the reliability issues are covered under Tesla’s overall four-year or 50,000 mile warranty and eight-year unlimited mile battery and drive chain warranty takes care of most of the major issues at no cost, according to the report.

 

Many Tesla drivers are early adopters and more accepting of teething problems and the novelty of having a car change with software updates. Such updates have added real value added features including the new AutoPilot mode or Telsa’s “insane” performance mode, as well as fixing bugs and adding small things such as an ever-present smartphone-style battery meter on the central 17-in touchscreen display.

Edited by SuperStu
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Americans are stupid enough to drive the things with hands off the wheel even though the guidance is clearly NOT to take your hands off the wheel....

 

People are stupid, what can you do?? UK autopilot coming next few weeks, and I've got a test drive in a 70D lined up once the UK update arrvies....I'll let you guys know where and when, just in case you want to keep off the roads at that point...Yes I'm aiming to join the stupid club too :)

 

 

Edited by gangzoom
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Americans are stupid enough to drive the things with hands off the wheel even though the guidance is clearly NOT to take your hands off the wheel....

I think the point is that beta software shouldn't be put into the hands of ordinary folks on public roads. This is why the real big guns who actually have a f*cking clue about cars and stuff like this are doing masses and masses of testing away from the public roads, where people can't get killed because the person who programmed the computer is a 'tard.

 

Look at the last video Stu posted: That guy had his hands right by the wheel, so as close as you pretty much get, and still the car couldn't figure out that it should turn up the ramp, causing him to twitch as he grabbed back control. Even if he'd been holding the wheel, he'd still have been waiting for the force of the motors to take over.

 

It's a really, really silly idea dreamt up in the name of publicity because the rest of his car making plans are falling apart.

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You do realise there is currently a 20k long waiting list for the Model X - £70k starting price, and the Model S UK waiting time is nearly 4 month - on a £50-100K car.

 

The £30K Model 3 pre-orders are going to start in March/April 2016. I suspect Tesla will have no problems filling the orders books when that is announced :)

Edited by gangzoom
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You do realise there is currently a 20k long waiting list for the Model X - £70k starting price, and the Model S UK waiting time is nearly 4 month - on a £50-100K car.

 

The £30K Model 3 pre-orders are going to start in March/April 2016. I suspect Tesla will have no problems filling the orders books when that is announced :)

 

And still they keep loosing money :) Doesnt sound too good to me.

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If you guys really want to see Tesla go down its not AutoPilot or the price which is an issue....

 

Its the Gigafactory they are building in Reo. This is what's sucking up money like a hungry hippo. When complete it'll be the biggest battery factory in the world. The aim is to drive down battery costs by at least another 30%,....

 

BUT no one has ever made batteries on such a scale, and by Tesla + Panasonics own admission they have no idea if it's going to work.

 

It's hell of a gamble, much more so than autopilot/falcon doors etc, and why I haven't bought Tesla shares. We'll know in 12 months time when the 'pilot ' factory starts producing battery packs.

Edited by gangzoom
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It's not about Tesla going under. If you clambered off the Musk bandwagon for just 3 nanoseconds, you'd see this is simply a story of a beta version of an auto pilot, on a real car, in real life and it is quite amusing/terrifying. In exactly the same way as the automated Volvo that went beserker in a demonstration, or the VAG emission scandal. No one on here wants to see a car maker go under, we're all petrolheads, even if we don't juice up about some cars as much as others.

 

As per the VAG emissions story, it's just something to poke fun at and knock, the world is a beta place (get it :lol: ) with Bentley, Volvo, Bugatti, Porsche, Lamborghini and even Tesla in it - even with us taking the mick.

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Auto-pilot, insane mode, Falcon wings door are all just a side show. The reason investors keep on pouring money into Tesla is because of the promised Model 3, and been able to deliver close to 500,000 a cars by 2020. Currently they are delivering 50,000, last year 35,000.

 

If there is any hint the Gigafactory isn't going to be able to deliver the kind of ecomics of scale predicted, the investors will pull out quicker than rats off a sinking ship. It's a massive gamble, the output of the factory is predicted to be greater than ALL the other battery factories in the ENTIRE world combined. This is something no one has done before, not even Panasonic, the guys who current supply Tesla with their battery cells.

 

Musk is either going to realise his dream of dominating the car market or everything is going to collapse around him. Tesla nearly ran of cash before, and it may do again, his even bought up Tesla shares recently to show his putting his money where his mouth is. What ever you think of the man his got balls, there is/was no need for him to risk all with Tesla and Space X after he got rid of PayPal. He could have lived a life of luxury doing bugger all with the cash he generated in IT, but instead is doing what his doing.

 

Ford revolutionised car production with the Model T, Tesla is aiming to do the same with the Model S. So we'll wait and see, but time is ticking and by next year this time we'll have a much better idea just how/if Tesla can pull off what they claim....I think it's 50/50, you have be insane to gamble on such a scale with such high stakes, which is why I'm not a city banker :)

Edited by gangzoom
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Because it'll be four times the price of the equivalent car, you'll have to double it in price for a fuel tank worth having and it will have 'amazing new' technology and features that everyone else had 5 years ago?

 

Sounds like a Tesla, not an Apple Car! :lol:

 

Samsung had NFC way before Apple, but never worked. Apple Pay introduced by Apple is fully functional. Is not about having the technology available, it's about by integrate it and make it work seamless. We had smartphones before 2007, but Apple iPhone has re-defined the smartphone concept. Nokia laughed about it, but today doesn't exist anymore. I also remember Michael Dell laughing about Apple, now it's the biggest company in the world...

 

However, it was more like a joke, for me a car needs to have a petrol engine in it... or doesn't? :lol:

 

2015-10-22_10-20-57.jpeg

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I'm waiting for AppleCar :lol: :lol:

But it will only interact with other Apple cars (with the latest version of iOS) :)

 

It will only go to Apple approved addresses

 

and if any of those "other" cars are running older versions of IOS - it will ignore those too

 

Consider how slow the older iPhone is on never iOS, now imagine the impact on an older car.... motorway speed reduced from 70 to 40 :)

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Pretty sure you would, you'd just have swerved left to avoid him rather than braking in a straight line. Also, you'd have slowed down to expect him to do something stupid, whereas the car just kept ploughing on at the same speed regardless.

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