Editorial: Feeding Tesla’s Fantasy of Full Self Driving

by Wallace Wyss –

Elon Musk changed the ways cars are made in America (rivals are ordering gigapresses that can stamp out larger panels).

But what he really wants to change is the ability of the car to drive itself. He premiered the feature called Autopilot early on when it did little compared to now. But after he added Full Self Driving (FSD) and charges a mint for it, he came under more scrutiny. The NHTSA is not happy with the name for Autopilot or FSD. It considers Autopilot not to be automatic as is autopilot in an airplane and Full Self Driving not yet able to dismiss a human driver.

Elon Musk, if he can get the bugs worked out of FSD, can count on a windfall of money. Because if anybody needs a ride, say;

– kids younger than 16 with no license

– elderly people who can’t see well enough to drive

– pregnant women who feel the urge to give birth and need a ride to the hospital

– vacationers who would be lost in new territory and like to leave the driving up to the driver even if the driver is a robot

Once all of the above are able to summon a car and the car is driverless, there will be a big upsurge in car rentals, because what Musk is envisioning is Tesla owners, while they are at work, renting their car out to all and sundry who need transport.

Tesla Autopilot

I myself wouldn’t want to do it and see the car come back with grease stains on the upholstery, etc. etc. but Musk looks upon these cars as cash cows, and says enough rentals during the month and the rentals will pay for the car. Similar to Air B-and-B where people rent their extra house, apartment or cottage.

I feel that the product is not foolproof enough yet. I remember reports of Teslas heading toward the flashing lights of emergency vehicles, or drawn to mysterious meetings between driverless cars.

I think Musk has a lot of bloody cheek in charging FSD customers as much as $12,000 to have their car kitted out with it. They are paying for a feature that’s not yet proven. Where else in history do we see guinea pigs paying their own money to be operating a device not yet approved for nationwide use?

If Elon is right, and all the bugs are worked out, we will have a shift nationwide of how cars are used. And even how cars are paid for (you wonder if the car insurers will like to hear the car they insure is rented out to strangers whom you never met?)

Being a pessimist I can see all sorts of malarkey happening—thieves renting a Tesla with false id so they can strip it bare and sell the parts. Or hey, how about bank robbers? And what about kids throwing things in the way of robot taxis, trying to see how they react?

There’s been accidents with Tesla in the past. In June of 2016, a driver using Autopilot was killed after his Tesla went under a tractor-trailer crossing its path in Florida. On that love affair with emergency vehicles at least 14 Teslas have crashed into emergency vehicles while using the Autopilot system. Tesla has recalled nearly all 2 million of its vehicles in the US to update the Autopilot software.

So what I am saying is for the public to stand back and say, “Yes we want full self driving” but not to be so dumb as to pay to be the guinea pigs. Tesla should be paying them.

In sum, I am at one and the same time agog at Musk’s achievements (having rockets fly back from space and land themselves for instance) and appalled (the Testa crashes). Maybe I saw the movie Wizard of Oz too many times, and remember the scene where Dorothy confronts the Wizard of Oz who seems bombastic and dominating from far back in the theatre but when she gets close it’s a little old man with a big microphone.

Dorothy where are you now when we need you?

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss comments on cars in his weekly show, Autotalk, broadcast from KUCR FM Riverside.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Summary

Article Name

Editorial: Feeding Tesla’s Fantasy of Full Self Driving

Description

Maybe I saw the movie Wizard of Oz too many times, and remember the scene where Dorothy confronts the Wizard of Oz who seems bombastic and dominating from far back in the theatre but when she gets close it’s a little old man with a big microphone.

Author

Wallace Wyss