I can't wait to see the expression on the passengers face when he/she realizes that no matter how many buttons he/she pushes, the driverless car will not exceed the speed limit.

BAAAAAAAHHHHH.

Yep, my thoughts exactly. Although as someone who isn't even a fan of cars with an automatic transmission my opinion probably doesn't matter. :)

The first step to "self driving cars" is getting immunity legislation passed for manufacturers. Look at how we freaked out about a few Toyotas with crappy brakes...can you imagine the class action and congressional hearing backlash in the first major self driving car crashes?

Musk is the new Nader??

The roads will be safe because automobiles will be equipped with a plethora of electronic sensors, solenoids, computer chips and processors.
These electronic automotive parts always function perfectly, and last indefinitely, no matter the conditions.
If you walk into a modern car dealership's shop, the techs are only replacing brake pads, adjusting the cup holders and changing the oil, right?? Right??

Yes, and they will always continue to be available. Sort of like how I'm going to have to replace the entire transmission on our Volvo 960 because the solenoids are NLA anywhere. :mad:

Airbus.

That was only Toyota. They blamed it on floor mats, but there is the distinct possibility their systems were hacked remotely or OEM. That hacking has been proven to be very easy. GM has all those systems integrated into OnStar. Meanwhile, GM ignition switches hurt a lot more people than Toyota. Did the news ever cover that?

Blanket immunity for corporations in the courts? Welcome to 2009.
That can only get worse.

His public statement is the proverbial "camel's nose in the tent".
Once centralized control takes over transportation via omnipotent government regulations there is no going back.

There are already trains, buses, special buses, limos, taxis, bikes and plenty of delivery services for the minority who can't legally drive.
Ask your city council if they aren't available now. Or move.

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I like "briefing the Stews" part...

Elon is such a pimp...taking govt cheese to keep his crappy cars on da road. With an Auto pilot car you might as well be taking public transportation.

Driverless cars..... hacker orgasmic.

With all these geniuses and Musk pipedreams, why can't they make a mobile phone reliable and able to use everywhere? And those 'stupid' phones streaming vids, you have to sometimes wait and watch a rotating arrow...lol. No longevity to any of this 'high tech' products. Non replaceable batteries, etc. Most of this is novelty garbage.

BTW: 400hp + cars are becoming commonplace. Average speed in suburbia USA is 40mph. Where's the 150mpg with 400 mile range cars?

My opinion has not changed. I just don't think a driver-less cars will be common on the roads for many years. I do see it as possible for areas like a business campus, retirement communities or even a college campus. The wealthy people will like having a vehicle that can carry 6 people across campus or the neighborhood quickly and weather tight. To have a vehicle that can take you to a specific address through regular traffic on public roads is many years off. For that to be mandatory is a long way off.

It will be even longer before that car can make a cross country trip.

No doubt that my own mother in law would buy one right now if it were under 45 grand and the vehicle could get her on a 400 mile round trip safely and with her not driving. She only has a car because it is a necessary appliance. It would have to be serviced at a common brand like the major brands. Getting a Honda repaired is easy. Mercedes or Audi requires living in a major metropolitan city.

I would be thrilled if, on the road trip from Oregon to California, I could drive to Hwy 5 and then doze off while my car drives 600 miles, waking me up only when it needs gas.

Now, that may not be a Tesla, since it won't drive 600 miles without a time-consuming recharge. But I gather they will soon be offering quick swaps of the battery. Better yet, how about my car automatically summons a special truck to rendezvous with us, they tether (like aerial refueling), and we drive down the highway as my car charges or refuels, all while I'm sleeping.

This idea appeals to pie-in-the-sky wacko hippies more I think, than Gen Xers who are used to being promised techy crap that disappoints. When my phone, computer, and other basic stuff starts working 100% of the time, then I'll think about putting my life in the hands of egghead programmers. Until then, driving is far too dangerous to think about my car or truck becoming a risk-free giant computer prophylactic bubble, just floating on a happy cloud down I-5.

Wonder those who transition to driver-less cars will step on that imaginary brake pedal all the time...

Basically:
What people say they want is a hands-off situation for a long regular commute.
They want their car still available for complete freedom of personal movement and choice.
Freedom of choice.
The problem is point B.
The inner city or different city.
Storing/renting a different car there will be difficult to set up and expensive to maintain.

Think of the distant future:
Trains can easily carry cars and off-load at speed using a parallel track.
Alarms can warn bad drivers with bad habits.

But give up control of the steering wheel and right peddle?
Sacrebleu!

Cars driven by humans are dangerous. The statistics show this to be true. If you take the human out of the equation, a car can be 100% safe, just like the airline passenger industry (well, close enough anyway). Its just a matter of time before autonomous cars will rule the road. The catch is, you gotta have 100% compliance for the scheme to work. Throw one crackhead in a '98 Civic into the mix and there's the potential for some bad PR.

Then exactly what the fk will U be good for? What will be your function in life? John Lennon said, "Holding your co(k in your hand don't make you a man." So what will it be?

Musk loves to make headlines and be talked about. He's an amazing self-promoter. Now if he could just make a profit.......

A true usable self-driving car is a lot more than one year away. In fact, I would argue that you really need some form of AI to make them feasible. Even compared to aviation there are exponentially more variables to deal with in a car. Not to mention the liability........oh my God can you imagine the feeding frenzy when the first driverless car crashes into somebody. Moving the liability from the driver to the manufacturer means the pockets just got a LOT deeper. I think it will happen someday, but I think that day is quite some time from now.

So those Airbus crashes where the computer would not allow the pilot to make the necessary corrections to remain airborne is something we should just ignore?

I love my computers and gadgets but every single one of them needs to be restarted at inopportune moments to get them to simply function after a lockup. I am real sure I don't want to be the passenger in a car that just locked up and needs a complete re-boot while driving down the interstate in heavy traffic.

How many redundant sensors are enough for every single function needed to get down the road. Three, Five? They will have to operate in sub-zero degree snow storms and 120 degree heat of Arizona.

Take the complexity of the 918 and multiply that by 10 and try to find someone to repair that in the middle of eastern Colorado or Montana.

It will happen someday but I suspect like artificial intelligence it is a long way off before it is common and practical.

Now that would be interesting... we have family about 1,500 miles away and the trip requires an overnight stop halfway there because the wife doesn't want to drive. Having the car be able to continue on its own overnight would be pretty cool so long as there was a decent way to sleep in there.