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This press release, when you read the details, is not very impressive. The headline sounds good, but the details are that it only works on highways, up to 38MP

This press release, when you read the details, is not very impressive. The headline sounds good, but the details are that it only works on highways, up to 38MPH, and won't be enabled right away; they are going to roll it out later. The one notable thing seems to be that you can be stuck in traffic and take your hands off the wheel, unlike Tesla where you have to have your hands on the wheel. I'm not sure how they call this "first", since it won't be on new cars released next year, until after some future software update, how is this different from Tesla that is already shipping cars that can do this and more with a software update? Full disclosure: in Dec I sold my Audi A8 to get a Model S. Currently, the Model S can basically drive itself in heavy traffic, but it will periodically want your hand(s) on the wheel. I recently was in stop and go traffic on a 2 lane road for an hour and the Tesla did great. The A8 won't be able to there, it won't work on anything but a divided highway which this was not. Don't get me wrong, I've had 5 Audis over the years and have loved them. But this really isn't "news", Audi is still playing catch up. Oh, and from the testing I've done this winter, the Tesla AWD system is at least as good as quattro. Probably better.

rsync 9y ago
"This press release, when you read the details, is not very impressive." This press release, like all high end / performance car press releases of the last 2-3 years, can be summed up as: "blah blah, not electric, blah blah" Like you, I am an ex-A8 owner who loved (loved!) those cars and have no interest in buying another one - no matter how nice or feature filled or well-designed they are. There's no way they don't know this and it becomes more and more stupefying that they cede this highest-of-margins segment to Tesla. "Oh, and from the testing I've done this winter, the Tesla AWD system is at least as good as quattro. Probably better." Exactly - it has two motors. My disappointment is wide and deep as the major manufacturers continue to refuse to make a modern car. However it is Audi and Volvo in particular whose inaction is truly mind-blowing. Audi because they could continue to own AWD/4WD and volvo because their target market is ripe for the aesthetic and social benefits of electric cars. Instead, Audi has spent ten years going down the "in 2-3 years we'll have an electric platform" and volvo has committed to a shitty-hybrids-with-lawnmower-engines-inside platform for the next 8-10 years.
- t0mbstone 9y ago
  The reason they have to cede to Tesla is because of battery supply. There's a reason why Tesla invested in a huge battery factory and established contracts with a lot of providers so they could churn out the batteries cheaply.
  - rsync 9y ago
    "The reason they have to cede to Tesla is because of battery supply." Then they don't have a product. There is no longer any such thing as a luxury vehicle with an ICE engine in it. I am not spending >100k on a nice new car with some high vibration, overly-complex[1], put-put-puttering 3 or 4 cylinder motor. I don't care how nice it looks or how fancy the software is. [1] Fuel economy regs make it necessary to turbo and super charge ICE engines to get 300+ horsepower out of these little 4 and 6 cylinder engines. These are not simple devices...
  - Gravityloss 9y ago
    Daimler has built and is building large battery factories. Posts about those don't get upvoted on HN. In the least it's best to see how this forum is a very partial / biased view of the industry.
- linsomniac 9y ago
  You are right that there's no way they don't know this. My Tesla sales guy said "I get a lot of people trading their Audi for a Model S". Then when I picked mine up, the couple who also had the same time slot to pick theirs up was trading a Audi. Right after I got it, I took a friend to pick up his Audi from the service center. I walked in with him and the service guy said to me "You're dead to me!" He is a really nice guy named Ryan, but I'll be honest that I'm kind of tired of being so tight with the Audi service guy. I'm hoping the Tesla doesn't cost so much down the road. I've already avoided 3 oil changes, so it's off to a good start. :-)
vvanders 9y ago
Yup, pretty on the mark. Also WRT snow performance Telsa has a pretty large advantage over any ICE since they can apply different torque amounts to each wheel in near sub 1ms timeframe due to two factors: 1. Lower rotating mass(you only have stator, axle and wheels in the physical drivetrain. 2. FETs respond much faster than an internal combustion engine. We got a fair bit of snow a while back and even without dedicated winter tires I was incredibly impressed with the snow/ice handling. Much better than our Subaru by a long shot. You can still get yourself into trouble but it was much harder to overcorrect than on our ICE.
- linsomniac 9y ago
  This very much represents what I've experienced with it. The traction control in the Audi's I've had would REALLY retard the engine, and then take a really long time to recover from it. So it definitely does respond faster. I also think that having two truly independent motors is vastly superior to one motor and a Torsen center diff sending it front and back. The quattro would use braking of one wheel to send power to the other side on one axle, with a traditional diff. I haven't really figured out what the Tesla does from side to side. But it seems to work great! We didn't get a lot of snow after Dec when I got it, but what I did get to play in it was very impressive.
  - vvanders 9y ago
    Yeah, they use an open diff + electronic braking to send wheel to wheel, seems to work pretty well.

rsync 9y ago

"This press release, when you read the details, is not very impressive." This press release, like all high end / performance car press releases of the last 2-3 years, can be summed up as: "blah blah, not electric, blah blah" Like you, I am an ex-A8 owner who loved (loved!) those cars and have no interest in buying another one - no matter how nice or feature filled or well-designed they are. There's no way they don't know this and it becomes more and more stupefying that they cede this highest-of-margins segment to Tesla. "Oh, and from the testing I've done this winter, the Tesla AWD system is at least as good as quattro. Probably better." Exactly - it has two motors. My disappointment is wide and deep as the major manufacturers continue to refuse to make a modern car. However it is Audi and Volvo in particular whose inaction is truly mind-blowing. Audi because they could continue to own AWD/4WD and volvo because their target market is ripe for the aesthetic and social benefits of electric cars. Instead, Audi has spent ten years going down the "in 2-3 years we'll have an electric platform" and volvo has committed to a shitty-hybrids-with-lawnmower-engines-inside platform for the next 8-10 years.

t0mbstone 9y ago
The reason they have to cede to Tesla is because of battery supply. There's a reason why Tesla invested in a huge battery factory and established contracts with a lot of providers so they could churn out the batteries cheaply.
- rsync 9y ago
  "The reason they have to cede to Tesla is because of battery supply." Then they don't have a product. There is no longer any such thing as a luxury vehicle with an ICE engine in it. I am not spending >100k on a nice new car with some high vibration, overly-complex[1], put-put-puttering 3 or 4 cylinder motor. I don't care how nice it looks or how fancy the software is. [1] Fuel economy regs make it necessary to turbo and super charge ICE engines to get 300+ horsepower out of these little 4 and 6 cylinder engines. These are not simple devices...
- Gravityloss 9y ago
  Daimler has built and is building large battery factories. Posts about those don't get upvoted on HN. In the least it's best to see how this forum is a very partial / biased view of the industry.
linsomniac 9y ago
You are right that there's no way they don't know this. My Tesla sales guy said "I get a lot of people trading their Audi for a Model S". Then when I picked mine up, the couple who also had the same time slot to pick theirs up was trading a Audi. Right after I got it, I took a friend to pick up his Audi from the service center. I walked in with him and the service guy said to me "You're dead to me!" He is a really nice guy named Ryan, but I'll be honest that I'm kind of tired of being so tight with the Audi service guy. I'm hoping the Tesla doesn't cost so much down the road. I've already avoided 3 oil changes, so it's off to a good start. :-)

vvanders 9y ago

Yup, pretty on the mark. Also WRT snow performance Telsa has a pretty large advantage over any ICE since they can apply different torque amounts to each wheel in near sub 1ms timeframe due to two factors: 1. Lower rotating mass(you only have stator, axle and wheels in the physical drivetrain. 2. FETs respond much faster than an internal combustion engine. We got a fair bit of snow a while back and even without dedicated winter tires I was incredibly impressed with the snow/ice handling. Much better than our Subaru by a long shot. You can still get yourself into trouble but it was much harder to overcorrect than on our ICE.

linsomniac 9y ago
This very much represents what I've experienced with it. The traction control in the Audi's I've had would REALLY retard the engine, and then take a really long time to recover from it. So it definitely does respond faster. I also think that having two truly independent motors is vastly superior to one motor and a Torsen center diff sending it front and back. The quattro would use braking of one wheel to send power to the other side on one axle, with a traditional diff. I haven't really figured out what the Tesla does from side to side. But it seems to work great! We didn't get a lot of snow after Dec when I got it, but what I did get to play in it was very impressive.
- vvanders 9y ago
  Yeah, they use an open diff + electronic braking to send wheel to wheel, seems to work pretty well.