9 ms·
It is already $14k, the lower price is with incentives. It is 10” smaller than a Smart car, top speed is 62mph, and it has a 90 mile range. That’s rough sell in
by jws 9y ago
It is already $14k, the lower price is with incentives. It is 10” smaller than a Smart car, top speed is 62mph, and it has a 90 mile range. That’s rough sell in America even before you try to make it safe enough to pass a crash test. (It might be, but I’m guessing with all the compromises they cut back on safety too.)
- r00fus 9y agoSafety costs money not just due to engineering but the testing and compliance process unique to each car model.
- icpmacdo 9y agoMaybe in China they could effectively modify a city with these and level 4 self driving. It seems like it could be a place where people would want to live.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoI have a feeling china will be the first to adopt self driving cars for mainly for environmental and congestion concerns; they are also authoritarian enough to actually do it. So ya, this could very well happen in 10 years or so.
- JSONwebtoken 9y agoHmmm something about a tiny automotive vehicle with a top speed of 62 mph and maybe a 80ft braking distance makes me feel more comfortable with getting into one. Certainly a higher error tolerance and lower risk of fatality as compared to a 5000 lb Tesla that goes to 0-60 in 2.4 seconds and takes a football field and a half to slow down. Maybe they should just make all self-driving cars weigh 1500 lbs and top out at 45 mph. Not a big deal when they run into each other, like bumper cars.
- PaulRobinson 9y agoI don't know what the bumper cars were like where you grew up, but a crash at 45mph, or even 20mph, is not quite the same thing and considerably less enjoyable. :-)
- JSONwebtoken 9y agoI get rear ended about twice a year in LA traffic by 4500 lb SUVs going 40-50 mph. I've learned to adjust the headrest on my seat properly so my head only jerks back an inch or two and I don't get whiplash anymore. I think collisions below 40 mph are quite survivable if they're not two-way head on/overlap and the cars are below a certain weight and designed to bounce against each other. They just need to make every autonomous car on the road 1500-2000lb and install rubber bumpers. The neural net will figure it out itself after a few million real world collisions and daily commutes will gradually become less jarring and eventful.
- BoorishBears 9y agoHave you seen the crash tests on these cars? I wouldn't trust them not to permanently injure you in a collision at 20 mph.
- mikeash 9y agoA football field and a half? A Tesla's stopping distance, like most decent modern cars, is a bit over 100ft from 60MPH.
- freeone3000 9y agoBraking distance in a Tesla is shorter in practice than what they're claiming here. Sports cars, even the luxury sports-lite that Tesla ends up in, are easier to stop than the average car.
- Buge 9y agoThe US has EV incentives as well.
- JustSomeNobody 9y agoMost Americans have to drive 90 miles just to go to the grocery store and back[0]. That's why there'd be no market here. Our cities were laid out with abundant gas forever in mind. [0] Slight exaggeration.