2018 is a long ways away. Can I wait?

[bigbear]

Did you mean 15 Tesla? I know naught of Prius, so can't say much about it. Actually come to think of it I rented a Prius once. I liked it but didn't really get as great mpg as I'd thought I would. I think I only got about 41. But this was probably a 2012 model or so.

Yes, I meant that. I have a prius and I'd rather have either.

 

[Electricfan]

Yes, I meant that. I have a prius and I'd rather have either.

Yeah, unfortunately. The Tesla isn't blowing my skirt up right now. I had worked myself into a frenzy waiting for autopilot, and it really just isn't what I expected. I thought I'd be able to get on any US interstate highway or similar good road, turn on autopilot and read a book. No can do. You have to watch it constantly. The only place it shines is in a traffic jam. I will say it is a miracle not to have to suffer through those anymore. I can read a book in a traffic jam.

But if I can sell the Tesla, get a 17 Volt that gets 50+ electric miles, and halves my car payment, I may do it. One more reason is the driver's seat. I have a 2011 Volt, and the driver's seat in that car is 10x more comfortable than the Tesla's.

I'm still hoping for a miracle with auto-pilot and firmware V7.1 though. Maybe they'll make an order-of-magnitude type improvement, and you won't have to be ready to "take over immediately" if you're on a freeway. I just want to feel safe on a freeway.

 

[dsm363]

Yeah, unfortunately. The Tesla isn't blowing my skirt up right now. I had worked myself into a frenzy waiting for autopilot, and it really just isn't what I expected. I thought I'd be able to get on any US interstate highway or similar good road, turn on autopilot and read a book. No can do. You have to watch it constantly. The only place it shines is in a traffic jam. I will say it is a miracle not to have to suffer through those anymore. I can read a book in a traffic jam.

But if I can sell the Tesla, get a 17 Volt that gets 50+ electric miles, and halves my car payment, I may do it. One more reason is the driver's seat. I have a 2011 Volt, and the driver's seat in that car is 10x more comfortable than the Tesla's.

I'm still hoping for a miracle with auto-pilot and firmware V7.1 though. Maybe they'll make an order-of-magnitude type improvement, and you won't have to be ready to "take over immediately" if you're on a freeway. I just want to feel safe on a freeway.

You realize that even if Autopilot works perfectly it was never intended or advertised to be a system that you can ignore traffic and read a book. You need autonomous driving for that.

 

[Electricfan]

You realize that even if Autopilot works perfectly it was never intended or advertised to be a system that you can ignore traffic and read a book. You need autonomous driving for that.

Maybe I misunderstood. But autopilot is the word they use on the website I think. Autopilot means "automatic pilot", which means you don't have to drive it. If you don't have to drive it, you can read a book! At least that's my reasoning. Obviously, though, I was wrong. And I'm disappointed in the car, whether I was too naive or not. It wouldn't be the first time I looked on a bright side that wasn't there.

 

[dsm363]

Maybe I misunderstood. But autopilot is the word they use on the website I think. Autopilot means "automatic pilot", which means you don't have to drive it. If you don't have to drive it, you can read a book! At least that's my reasoning. Obviously, though, I was wrong. And I'm disappointed in the car, whether I was too naive or not. It wouldn't be the first time I looked on a bright side that wasn't there.

Autopilot term comes from aviation. It is meant as an aid to the pilot so they can do other tasks but they are supposed to be able to take over at a moment's notice and are responsible at all times.

It's simply meant to relieve the tedium of driving on the highway for the Model S. The driver is legally responsible for what the car does.

 

[Max*]

I am actually surprised there aren't more people like Electricfan. Tesla did an astounding job advertising without advertising Autopilot. So much so, that if you weren't on the up and up on the various stages of autonomous driving, you'd think that Tesla's Autopilot is the first car to accomplish Level 3 autonomous driving (what Electricfan wants, get on the highway, click a button, take a nap, exit highway, resume driving).

 

[Electricfan]

I am actually surprised there aren't more people like Electricfan. Tesla did an astounding job advertising without advertising Autopilot. So much so, that if you weren't on the up and up on the various stages of autonomous driving, you'd think that Tesla's Autopilot is the first car to accomplish Level 3 autonomous driving (what Electricfan wants, get on the highway, click a button, take a nap, exit highway, resume driving).

Yes, that's exactly what I want. If they would add this:

to this:

they might not sell as many cars, but the people who buy them would not be disappointed.

 

[JenniferQ]

I think it does this amazingly well. It is autopilot. Not autonomous driving.

I guess I'd better go drive a Volt to see what I'm missing.

And I really think that by the time we have truly autonomous driving, we won't need/have our own individual cars, right? It'll be a scene out of some Pixar movie or Disneyland where we just hop in the car as it shows up in front of us and whisks us away.

 

[Max*]

I think it does this amazingly well. It is autopilot. Not autonomous driving.

I guess I'd better go drive a Volt to see what I'm missing.

And I really think that by the time we have truly autonomous driving, we won't need/have our own individual cars, right? It'll be a scene out of some Pixar movie or Disneyland where we just hop in the car as it shows up in front of us and whisks us away.

I love AP also, makes long trips much easier (and we drive a lot).

I world love highway autonomous now, but that's probably in 3-5 years.

Hmm.. Just in time for the model 3 release

 

[McHoffa]

Musk said he expects fully autonomous tech to arrive in 5-6 years

 

[green1]

I love AP also, makes long trips much easier (and we drive a lot).

I too love the AP, I'm going to miss it for the next 6 months though while we "enjoy" winter

 

[Max*]

Musk said he expects fully autonomous tech to arrive in 5-6 years

Link?

I don't recall him every saying that fully autonomous (level 4, no driver interactions, anywhere including city streets. think Google car) would be here in 5-6 years. Most experts put that between 10-20 years out.

Highway autonomous (level 3), I think he said 3-4 years, not 5-6 years. Could be remembering wrong though.

 

[McHoffa]

Link?

I don't recall him every saying that fully autonomous (level 4, no driver interactions, anywhere including city streets. think Google car) would be here in 5-6 years. Most experts put that between 10-20 years out.

Highway autonomous (level 3), I think he said 3-4 years, not 5-6 years. Could be remembering wrong though.

He said it in this interview, among others. Specifically he says he thought initially that it would be 10 years out, but based on the rate of R&D, thinks it's now 5-6 (and this interview was a year ago)

Elon Musk on Teslas Auto Pilot and Legal Liability - YouTube

 

[Max*]

He said it in this interview, among others. Specifically he says he thought initially that it would be 10 years out, but based on the rate of R&D, thinks it's now 5-6 (and this interview was a year ago)

Elon Musk on Teslas Auto Pilot and Legal Liability - YouTube

Thanks. He did say fully autonomous in the video, you are correct. Though he also said just autonomous.

I still think he's talking about highway autonomous, but we'll find out in 5 years .

MobilEyes next chipset which will allow the hardware necessary for autonomous driving is only coming out in 2018 (mass production), add in software development time, I don't see fully autonomous in 2 years after that. Highway autonomous, sure.

BTW, he said he thought autonomous was 10 years out, most experts believed that highway autonomous is 10 years out, not full autonomous.

 

[McHoffa]

Well he did say the current Tesla is called autopilot because it's not truly autonomous even though he considers it to be self driving 80% of driving (highway) and also mentioned being able to get in, go to sleep and wake up at your destination, though he is only talking about capability and not in use, since it will have to get through regulators, etc. may be 15 years to see it in practice 100% but it's still very exciting to me.

 

[Vic_F]

My guess would be production begins Q4 2016 for Founders with ramp ip in Q2 2017. Tesla needs the momentum and despite them saying "new" technology; I expect incremental.