Tesla News

Last Place?
(An insane rating considering reality)

Since a computer with proper software is capable of driving a vehicle far safer than most humans, Elon Musk and Tesla have been pursuing that autonomous driving software. And because they have, so have other companies. And obviously, all these other companies want to be "first to market". So they use tricks to get there first. But we're not talking about other car manufacturers... these are Uber-type ride hailing services. That's where the big money can be made (no driver to pay).

Many of them use LIDAR on their cars (a type of sensor, very expensive)...

...and they pre-map the area where the car will drive, so it's like a car on rails... invisible rails. And because of these shortcuts, they have come to market before Tesla. Tesla's system can operate anywhere there's a road to drive on... no pre-mapping required... and no LIDAR is needed. Their system operates on vision only... just like humans. It has 8 cameras around the car that can all see at the same time (unlike humans).

But since other driverless cars have been approved for use before Tesla's, Tesla is deemed to be in last place, even though there are 450,000 Tesla cars driving around using this software, but with a driver ready to take over in case the software makes a mistake. Meaning, the software is in the "beta" stage (not ready yet, being tested). So, many millions of miles of driving data that Tesla uses to improve the software. Other autonomous driving software makers don't have this (huge) advantage.

If the media – CNBC in this case – were to do their homework and did not have an anti-Tesla bias (long story), their reporting would not have placed Tesla in last place, especially considering that many of the other companies on the above list don't even have systems on the road yet.

Many of those 450,000 Tesla testers have Youtube channels, so there are tons of Youtube videos of Teslas being driven around autonomously. And as they say, "the proof of the pudding is in the tasting"... you can clearly see from the videos that Tesla has all those other companies beat because Tesla's system can operate anywhere, and doesn't require pre-mapping or ugly expensive LIDAR units. Which means that once it's ready and approved, if your Tesla has this software (an option), and if you're so inclined, you can "Uber" out your car for the eight hours while you're at work, making a bunch of extra income. Or just use the software to make the drive to and from work a lot more enjoyable (and safer).

The 6 levels of driving assistance

So yes, Cruise and Waymo got to Level 4 while Tesla is still at Level 3, but Cruise and Waymo are very limited, while Tesla's system can be used anywhere. And it's very close to being finished. Very close. So close, that a rival software company tried to discredit Tesla's system by lying about it, saying that it can run over children (and showed a Tesla running over a dummy of a child in an actual TV commercial).

Oh, and it should be noted that even though there is no driver in Cruise and Waymo's cars, there is a driver remotely monitoring the car who can slam on the brakes or take over the steering in an emergency. Kind'a like Tesla's system. So are they really Level 4? Well, according to the regulators, because there's no one "behind the wheel", it's Level 4. Sorry, but I call BS on that one. And sometimes that remote monitoring person can't react quickly enough to compensate for sub-par software...

GM's Cruise robotaxi crashes into San Francisco municipal bus

Geofenced self-driving solutions work fine until something isn’t as expected. Non-pre-programmed scenarios is where they break down. A vision-based self-driving solution (like Tesla's) with computer neural networks that sees, recognizes, and responds to non-pre-programmed scenarios, and does so better than a human, is the future. Note: Of the 400,000+ Teslas driving around in autonomous mode, logging millions of miles, there have been no software-caused accidents. Guess who will ultimately win the self-driving solution.

GM's Cruise robotaxi injures a pedestrian and lies about it!

On October 2, 2023 a pedestrian was hit by a car driven by a human, and the pedestrian was knocked down falling into the path of an oncoming Cruise autonomously driven taxi. The taxi did a hard-braking maneuver and came to a stop right at the person, but unavoidably did run her over with one wheel but at a very slow speed. The video from the Cruise taxi showed this. But then, because the Cruise vehicle experienced an "incident", its computer initiated a "pull over to the curb" maneuver, which dragged the pedestrian who was under the vehicle about 20 feet, causing her additional injuries. The video that Cruise showed to authorities didn't contain the "pull over" part, and Cruise' statements at the time failed to include the part where their driverless car dragged the pedestrian 20 feet while executing the automatic "pull over" maneuver. They knew it happened, but didn't want to mention it. This is what happens when a company is staffed with sociopaths who don't do "the right thing".

When the California Department of Motor Vehicles eventually got the entire story from other public agency's personnel, and realized the lying by omission that Cruise had done when reporting the details of their involvement in the accident to the authorities, the DMV demanded with entire video from Cruise, and then immediately withdrew Cruise's permits, forcing Cruise to remove from the roads all of their 300 self-driving taxis. The DMV said Cruise' vehicles could return to the roads but only with a safety driver (who sits behind the wheel, ready to take over). Cruise will not likely do this due to the labor expense... they are, after all, doing this to make money. And the lawsuit from the pedestrian won't help their bottom-line.

It should be noted that the Cruise taxis have caused other accidents that were just fender-benders. And they have clogged intersections because they stalled out when they lost their 4Glte signal. In more than one occasion, emergency vehicles couldn't proceed through those intersections... ambulances and firetrucks.

Cruise has this same pilot program in other states. So, will Texas and Arizona also pull Cruise' permits or demand safety drivers?

GM had no comment other than to say ("AV" means Autonomous Vehicle)...

Fact check: No, GM develops and deploys those vehicles to make money.
And who exactly at GM honestly cares about the victim?

It should be noted that the 14,000 Tesla EVs that drive around under 100% computer control all have safety drivers who are ready to take over. These safety drivers are the owners of the cars, and all these Teslas have Driver Monitoring Systems that "watch" the safety driver to make sure he/she is paying attention to the road and has a hand on the wheel. If the driver takes their eyes off the road for more than a second, they get warned. Three warnings, and they lose their self-driving mode (that they paid for). Why the safety drivers still? Tesla has not deemed their system safe enough yet, and they will not request permits for their cars to operate autonomously until they are safe enough... unlike other companies.