6 ms·

I would say it’s pretty accurate if you are familiar with how plane autopilots actually work.

by cycrutchfield 9y ago

bdcravens 9y ago
What % of Tesla owners have a pilot's license?
King-Aaron 9y ago
Unfortunately, most people attribute the word 'autopilot' with the way Otto performed in the movie Airplane!...
draggnar 9y ago
Or a boat autopilot.
hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
How many car drivers do you think are familiar with the details of how plane autopilots really work? If Tesla had called this something like "lane-assist adaptive cruise control" I think your average Joe would have had much more realistic expectations around how the technology actually functions.
- maratd 9y ago
  > If Tesla had called this something like "lane-assist adaptive cruise control" I think your average Joe would have had much more realistic expectations around how the technology actually functions. Which would be foolish on their part, since it would equate their system with that found on other cars. The systems found on other cars are garbage to the point of being unusable. The system that Tesla has is in a different class.
  - rtpg 9y ago
    Is this true? I thought other luxury car brands are now shipping with self driving of similar capabilities to Tesla at this point. Or maybe it's just the sensors being the same...
    - TAForObvReasons 9y ago
      Luxury car brands ship with a limited feature set that reflects an appropriate conservatism. For example, they can detect cars in your blind spot and warn you, and they can put the brakes if someone short stops ahead of you. They have many of the required sensors but are waiting for the tech to mature
      - davidgay 9y ago
        Non-luxury cars (Subaru) are shipping with more than that (lane following, adaptive cruise control).
      - eclipxe 9y ago
        This is not true. BMW 5 and 7 series have adaptive cruise control and lane centering. I had a Tesla and now have a 5 series and the 5 series Lane centering is on par with Tesla’s autopilot. The only thing it lacks in the US is auto lane change (but it works in other countries).
    - Amezarak 9y ago
      Not just luxury cars, even economy cars are shipping with adaptive cruise control, automatic lane-keeping, and automatic collision avoidance, and (at least the ones I've tried) work fantastically. On the highway you really don't have to do anything.
  - Domenic_S 9y ago
    Mercedes' system is quite good, to the point that I got tired of waiting for my Model 3 reservation to come up and got a Mercedes plug-in hybrid instead. It's really close to Tesla's AP.
    - eclipxe 9y ago
      Yep. Drive pilot on Mercedes and The driver assistant plus packages on BMWs are just about as good as AP1 on Teslas
  - Fins 9y ago
    If by "unusable" you mean that they actually work, and do not actively try to kill you, then yes, that's what they have. Tesla's system is exactly the same thing, except that it is marketed as some fancy "autopilot" with "self-driving hardware" or whatever BS Musk is pushing to fanboys blinded by the whole "look, ma, no emissions" thing. But of course Tesla can't call it that, and not something fancy like "autopilot" because otherwise what could they market? A glorified golf cart (granted, a pretty fast golf cart) that combines a luxury car price with a Yugo quality? That's not a winning combo.
    - maratd 9y ago
      Well, it's either a "glorified golf cart" or you're a short seller with a financial incentive to spread the nonsense in your post. I'm going to bet on the latter =)
      - Fins 9y ago
        Certainly your right. Alas, no financial involvement with Tesla either way. Also, it is a very expensive golf cart, although less comfortable than some.
  - mdekkers 9y ago
    The system that Tesla has is in a different class Indeed! The Tesla system appears to have a much higher probability of killing you! I don't see headlines about "$carbrand cruise control out of control, kills driver"
    - maratd 9y ago
      You don't see those headlines because short sellers aren't obsessed with those brands like they are with Tesla. Not because those brands are actually safer or don't have accidents. "Tesla is, by a wide margin, the No. 1 short stock in terms of money at risk and exposure within the global auto industry" https://www.marketwatch.com/story/teslas-roaring-start-to-2018-is-costing-short-sellers-1-billion-2018-01-18 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/teslas-roaring-start-to-20...
      - Fins 9y ago
        But what does it have to do with there being quite a few (better selling, cheaper) models with 0 fatalities? Hell, cruise control in a Hyundai actually alarms and brakes if you try to drive into a stationary object. But they don't have Saint Elon at the helm...
        maratd 9y ago
        > But what does it have to do with there being quite a few (better selling, cheaper) models with 0 fatalities? Pretty sure there are no car models out there with 0 fatalities that have been released for more than a year. How much are you getting paid to spread this FUD? I genuinely want to know. If the gig is sweet enough, I might want to get in on the racket =)
        Fins 9y ago
        Alas, there were statistics posted here on HN in one of the Tesla accident threads [0]. And these were even for cars older than Tesla, cheaper than Tesla, and selling possibly order of magnitude more vehicles (quite possible for Hondas and Toyotas on the list) than Tesla. Wouldn't it be sad if you had invested your life's savings in TSLA upon hearing Saint Musk preaching his BS, and now need to defend that investment against all facts? (yeah, there is some sarcasm above, but your accusations of FUD and being paid for it strongly smell of spiked Kool-Aid) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16723782 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16723782
efraim 9y ago
Almonst no one is familiar with how plane autopilots work. And in a plane you don't drive into a barrier or off the road if you don't pay attention for a few seconds like you can do in a car, unless you're flying very close to the ground. A plane can be said to be flying itself if it's just keeping it's course but to drive a car you need to pay more attention to the surroundings.
- cycrutchfield 9y ago
  >Almonst no one is familiar with how plane autopilots work. OK... >And in a plane you don't drive into a barrier or off the road if you don't pay attention for a few seconds like you can do in a car, unless you're flying very close to the ground. A plane can be said to be flying itself if it's just keeping it's course but to drive a car you need to pay more attention to the surroundings. I think you just proved your first point here.
slavik81 9y ago
The skies and the seas are a lot different than the roads. They're mostly empty, while land is full of obstacles. You can tell a drone autopilot to circle at 600ft and go to lunch. It will be there when you get back. The equivalent for a Tesla might be circling the block for an hour unattended. The Tesla is far more advanced, but it achieves less, because the environment requires more.
oldgradstudent 9y ago
Actually, no. For most of the flight, pilots have enough time (and are often required) to go over paper checklists. With the Tesla Autopilot, taking your eyes for 5 second off the road gets you killed.
TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
Flight paths used while aircraft autopilots are engaged tend to have significantly fewer solid-object barriers. That should be sufficient reason to not call it Autopilot. We aren't flying here, it's a ground vehicle.
decker 9y ago
Airplane autopilot is designed to drive cars into solid barriers? That's news to me.
buvanshak 9y ago
If Tesla's "autopilot" is turned into a martial arts master https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_vvI26NnwE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_vvI26NnwE

I would say it’s pretty accurate if you are familiar with how plane autopilots actually work.

bdcravens 9y ago

What % of Tesla owners have a pilot's license?

King-Aaron 9y ago

Unfortunately, most people attribute the word 'autopilot' with the way Otto performed in the movie Airplane!...

draggnar 9y ago

Or a boat autopilot.

hn_throwaway_99 9y ago

How many car drivers do you think are familiar with the details of how plane autopilots really work? If Tesla had called this something like "lane-assist adaptive cruise control" I think your average Joe would have had much more realistic expectations around how the technology actually functions.

maratd 9y ago
> If Tesla had called this something like "lane-assist adaptive cruise control" I think your average Joe would have had much more realistic expectations around how the technology actually functions. Which would be foolish on their part, since it would equate their system with that found on other cars. The systems found on other cars are garbage to the point of being unusable. The system that Tesla has is in a different class.
- rtpg 9y ago
  Is this true? I thought other luxury car brands are now shipping with self driving of similar capabilities to Tesla at this point. Or maybe it's just the sensors being the same...
  - TAForObvReasons 9y ago
    Luxury car brands ship with a limited feature set that reflects an appropriate conservatism. For example, they can detect cars in your blind spot and warn you, and they can put the brakes if someone short stops ahead of you. They have many of the required sensors but are waiting for the tech to mature
    - davidgay 9y ago
      Non-luxury cars (Subaru) are shipping with more than that (lane following, adaptive cruise control).
    - eclipxe 9y ago
      This is not true. BMW 5 and 7 series have adaptive cruise control and lane centering. I had a Tesla and now have a 5 series and the 5 series Lane centering is on par with Tesla’s autopilot. The only thing it lacks in the US is auto lane change (but it works in other countries).
  - Amezarak 9y ago
    Not just luxury cars, even economy cars are shipping with adaptive cruise control, automatic lane-keeping, and automatic collision avoidance, and (at least the ones I've tried) work fantastically. On the highway you really don't have to do anything.
- Domenic_S 9y ago
  Mercedes' system is quite good, to the point that I got tired of waiting for my Model 3 reservation to come up and got a Mercedes plug-in hybrid instead. It's really close to Tesla's AP.
  - eclipxe 9y ago
    Yep. Drive pilot on Mercedes and The driver assistant plus packages on BMWs are just about as good as AP1 on Teslas
- Fins 9y ago
  If by "unusable" you mean that they actually work, and do not actively try to kill you, then yes, that's what they have. Tesla's system is exactly the same thing, except that it is marketed as some fancy "autopilot" with "self-driving hardware" or whatever BS Musk is pushing to fanboys blinded by the whole "look, ma, no emissions" thing. But of course Tesla can't call it that, and not something fancy like "autopilot" because otherwise what could they market? A glorified golf cart (granted, a pretty fast golf cart) that combines a luxury car price with a Yugo quality? That's not a winning combo.
  - maratd 9y ago
    Well, it's either a "glorified golf cart" or you're a short seller with a financial incentive to spread the nonsense in your post. I'm going to bet on the latter =)
    - Fins 9y ago
      Certainly your right. Alas, no financial involvement with Tesla either way. Also, it is a very expensive golf cart, although less comfortable than some.
- mdekkers 9y ago
  The system that Tesla has is in a different class Indeed! The Tesla system appears to have a much higher probability of killing you! I don't see headlines about "$carbrand cruise control out of control, kills driver"
  - maratd 9y ago
    You don't see those headlines because short sellers aren't obsessed with those brands like they are with Tesla. Not because those brands are actually safer or don't have accidents. "Tesla is, by a wide margin, the No. 1 short stock in terms of money at risk and exposure within the global auto industry" https://www.marketwatch.com/story/teslas-roaring-start-to-2018-is-costing-short-sellers-1-billion-2018-01-18 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/teslas-roaring-start-to-20...
    - Fins 9y ago
      But what does it have to do with there being quite a few (better selling, cheaper) models with 0 fatalities? Hell, cruise control in a Hyundai actually alarms and brakes if you try to drive into a stationary object. But they don't have Saint Elon at the helm...
      - maratd 9y ago
        > But what does it have to do with there being quite a few (better selling, cheaper) models with 0 fatalities? Pretty sure there are no car models out there with 0 fatalities that have been released for more than a year. How much are you getting paid to spread this FUD? I genuinely want to know. If the gig is sweet enough, I might want to get in on the racket =)
        Fins 9y ago
        Alas, there were statistics posted here on HN in one of the Tesla accident threads [0]. And these were even for cars older than Tesla, cheaper than Tesla, and selling possibly order of magnitude more vehicles (quite possible for Hondas and Toyotas on the list) than Tesla. Wouldn't it be sad if you had invested your life's savings in TSLA upon hearing Saint Musk preaching his BS, and now need to defend that investment against all facts? (yeah, there is some sarcasm above, but your accusations of FUD and being paid for it strongly smell of spiked Kool-Aid) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16723782 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16723782

efraim 9y ago

Almonst no one is familiar with how plane autopilots work. And in a plane you don't drive into a barrier or off the road if you don't pay attention for a few seconds like you can do in a car, unless you're flying very close to the ground. A plane can be said to be flying itself if it's just keeping it's course but to drive a car you need to pay more attention to the surroundings.

cycrutchfield 9y ago
>Almonst no one is familiar with how plane autopilots work. OK... >And in a plane you don't drive into a barrier or off the road if you don't pay attention for a few seconds like you can do in a car, unless you're flying very close to the ground. A plane can be said to be flying itself if it's just keeping it's course but to drive a car you need to pay more attention to the surroundings. I think you just proved your first point here.

slavik81 9y ago

The skies and the seas are a lot different than the roads. They're mostly empty, while land is full of obstacles. You can tell a drone autopilot to circle at 600ft and go to lunch. It will be there when you get back. The equivalent for a Tesla might be circling the block for an hour unattended. The Tesla is far more advanced, but it achieves less, because the environment requires more.

oldgradstudent 9y ago

Actually, no. For most of the flight, pilots have enough time (and are often required) to go over paper checklists. With the Tesla Autopilot, taking your eyes for 5 second off the road gets you killed.

TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago

Flight paths used while aircraft autopilots are engaged tend to have significantly fewer solid-object barriers. That should be sufficient reason to not call it Autopilot. We aren't flying here, it's a ground vehicle.

decker 9y ago

Airplane autopilot is designed to drive cars into solid barriers? That's news to me.

buvanshak 9y ago

If Tesla's "autopilot" is turned into a martial arts master https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_vvI26NnwE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_vvI26NnwE