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Tesla over-promised: If they called the Tesla a 'driver-assisted vehicle' rather than an 'autopilot car' this would be a different argument. You can't claim yo

Tesla over-promised: If they called the Tesla a 'driver-assisted vehicle' rather than an 'autopilot car' this would be a different argument. You can't claim you have a driverless car (autopilot) when it is expected of the driver to keep their eyes on the road, hands on the wheel and a foot near the brake. That is so over-promising.

dawnerd 10y ago
Exactly, my 2016 passat has some pretty slick lane assist and adaptive cruise control. Still requires hands on the wheel (although I've watched it take itself around a corner at a high speed and it was pretty incredible). Only thing it's missing is lane change and that's something I could see VW patching in if they were a company that cared about that sorta thing. I think the only thing tesla has over the competition is the willingness to upgrade their cars after they're sold. With everyone else it's basically always going to be how it was when you drove it off the lot. I imagine VW could also tighten up lane assist to not be as slot car and pick the middle of the lane rather than whatever side of the car is closest to the line.
skykooler 10y ago
Tesla has never claimed "driverless" - the driver has to be there (well, now - earlier firmware versions didn't check for weight in the driver's seat). What they did do is market it as "autopilot", which means different things to different people - in an airplane, "autopilot" merely flies the plane into the direction and altitude set by the pilot - it does not avoid other aircraft, take commands from ATC, or anything like that. So, technically, calling Tesla's auto-steer "autopilot" is pretty accurate. The problem is that most people being unfamiliar with aircraft systems think of autopilot as "something that flies the plane on its own" and analogizes that to driverless cars. You've never flown in a pilotless airplane. Autopilot is not AI.

dawnerd 10y ago

Exactly, my 2016 passat has some pretty slick lane assist and adaptive cruise control. Still requires hands on the wheel (although I've watched it take itself around a corner at a high speed and it was pretty incredible). Only thing it's missing is lane change and that's something I could see VW patching in if they were a company that cared about that sorta thing. I think the only thing tesla has over the competition is the willingness to upgrade their cars after they're sold. With everyone else it's basically always going to be how it was when you drove it off the lot. I imagine VW could also tighten up lane assist to not be as slot car and pick the middle of the lane rather than whatever side of the car is closest to the line.

skykooler 10y ago

Tesla has never claimed "driverless" - the driver has to be there (well, now - earlier firmware versions didn't check for weight in the driver's seat). What they did do is market it as "autopilot", which means different things to different people - in an airplane, "autopilot" merely flies the plane into the direction and altitude set by the pilot - it does not avoid other aircraft, take commands from ATC, or anything like that. So, technically, calling Tesla's auto-steer "autopilot" is pretty accurate. The problem is that most people being unfamiliar with aircraft systems think of autopilot as "something that flies the plane on its own" and analogizes that to driverless cars. You've never flown in a pilotless airplane. Autopilot is not AI.