My son-in-law drove us to dinner in Nashville Saturday night in a brand new Tesla P90D. To say it was an amazing experience would be an understatement. 700 plus horsepower and not a sound. "Ludicrous" mode is exactly that.

The photo was taken on I-24 heading into Nashville. We drove (or should I say "it" drove) 14 of the 16 miles from entrance to exit. Look Ma, no hands!

 

We have the radar cruise control in our Sienna. That's the closest I've come to your experience. Which isn't really very close, but much closer than many here I would imagine.

So without any engine noise, do you notice the external noise a lot more or did they do a great job of sound insulation? Seems like a great environment to turn on some good music and relax some.

 

Yeah, as much as I like our older cars, there is a point where it's hard to argue that at least some newer cars are far superior to our older ones.

I'd like to get me one of those one of these days...

- Eric

 

So, the car drove itself via. GPS, or your son didn't steer because the alignment is so true? I didn't know there were any self driving cars marketed to the public.

It won't be long before it will be illegal to drive.

 

I have no desire to drive an electric car that can drive itself. I also have no desire to spend that much on a vehicle let alone something I can't live in.

 

It uses its optical and radar sensors to determine where the edge of the lane, and the other cars are, and then stays in the lane at the speed you desire, or at the speed of traffic, until you tell it otherwise.

It cannot make changes or decisions, though, such as taking an exit ramp or guiding itself from Point A to Point B. It would probably be able to with the right software modifications, but as of now, it can't.

And, yes, if it's not flat-out illegal to drive one day, those few who choose to do so will be viewed with suspicion by the general public and by the police.

- Eric

 

Yup. This does scare me. The two things that mitigate that worry are 1) it's unlikely to happen in my driving lifetime (maybe another 20-25 years if I'm lucky) and 2) just wait until the first person is killed or seriously injured by an autonomous vehicle.

 

If you drive it around Amish country does it also recognize horse buggies?

 

Or Hacked

 

You and I both know that with 360° vision that never blinks, the ability to "see" in the dark and through radar, no tendency to become distracted, and an unfailing understanding of exactly what the laws of physics will and will not allow, a self-driving car will be far safer than one driven by a person, but I do agree with you - the mobs will be mustering with pitchforks and torches.

- Eric

 

It recognizes any physical object of significant size.

- Eric

 

If I summon it, like a genie from a lamp out of my garage will it back over my dog? Not knit picking just trying to understand what is considered significant. And, I wanted to say summon.


This is a fun watch on a rainy day.

 

We won't be seeing full autonomous cars anytime soon because of the liability.

Lane following is existing tech.

 

After watching the video, I've determined, I've lived too long

 

Sorry, Eric, but I also know about how safety critical software is handled by NASA and DoD. They spend orders of magnitude more money than Elon ever will. I'm not saying the NASA way is better, but it's definitely more thorough, and they STILL have faults.

 

I'm not saying it will be fault-free, only that the current wetware system is so fault-prone that even with an occasional bug, an automated system will be statistically far safer.

- Eric

 

Sure would be nice if they could build some driverless interstates to put the truck traffic on. Fully automated semi trucks going 100+ MPH! Well, they do that now with a driver...so I'd take the automated any day.

 

That was a cool video. The Tesla is so much more than the Dodge though. Heck, you could buy a Porsche or Maserati in that price range.

 

The way people are driving these days it will definitely be safer. As much as I don't like It people's driving habits are scaring me even worse. It's hands down the most dangerous thing most people do these days. Close calls are more prevalent and at higher speeds than ever. We are losing common sense when it comes to the laws of physics.

I can't believe how many Teslas are out there now. Wonder where I was when they were handing out the money trees.

 

I didn't notice any appreciable road noise. Very quiet cabin. Sound system is what you'd expect in a vehicle that sells for what this one does.

I'm an old car guy... I love my classics, but I'm also in awe of the gigantic leaps forward in this type of technology, especially in the areas of safety.

As far as the direction personal transportation is taking, I can't help but wonder what the gents driving horseless carriages thought the first time they got passed on the road by a Model T Ford.

 

While in autonomous mode, lane changes are accomplished merely by using the turn signal... when the lane is clear, the car makes the change.

That kinda freaked me out.

 

Think how many drunk drivers it would get off the road.

 

There would probably be MORE on the road, just not actually driving the vehicle.

 

Did you see the news story a couple weeks back about the Google car colliding with a city bus? Apparently the car "saw" the bus coming but expected it to yield for the car, which the bus did not do. Even self driving cars think they have the right of way just because their blinker is on.

 

Glad you had a good time. On the Sour Puss side, I wouldn't want one of those for free. They can shove it.

 

I'll wait until Tesla builds the equivalent of the 2500 Chevy suburban that can tow all day without a recharge. Other then that I think the car has a good look about it and fits into traffic well meaning it doesn't take your eye off the road to stare at it when it passes you.
Steve