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I have a friend who bought a Tesla and is now asking for a buy-back. His experience has convinced me the negative hype isn't all just shorts propagandizing and
by api 8y ago
I have a friend who bought a Tesla and is now asking for a buy-back. His experience has convinced me the negative hype isn't all just shorts propagandizing and "Musk fatigue." This company has huge, huge problems.
When he first got the Tesla it had huge body panel alignment problems. Eventually these were fixed, but it took too long and was difficult to get Tesla to fully acknowledge them.
After that he had a range of little annoying problems, many of which were likely software bugs, but then he (actually his GF) experienced something in autopilot mode known on the Tesla forums as "shadow braking" -- the car braking hard on the highway because it seems to see the shadow of an overpass and think it's a wall. This is extremely dangerous. It was on the I-405 (SoCal) going 70-80mph, and such a thing could easily cause a rear end collision.
At that point they're starting the process of returning the car. Not only have there been many problems including a major safety issue, but Tesla has apparently been evasive and difficult getting them fixed.
I hate to type this because I love most of what Musk has done and I really credit Tesla with helping get the ball rolling on EVs. EVs are tipping now, and I'm not sure that would have happened without Tesla. It at least would likely have taken longer. But... it is what it is. I'm just telling the truth.
Reading between the lines a little Musk seems horribly burnt out. If I could give him advice I'd say pass Tesla to someone with more experience in the car industry, start gracefully exiting Tesla, take a break and do a little personal inventory, and then focus 100% on SpaceX. The latter is the far more important of the two companies and is in much better shape. I also feel like it's his real true love.
If Telsa can't be righted its fate will probably be purchase (or purchase of its assets in bankruptcy) by another car company. That's fine. As I said: EVs are tipping.
Finally to speculate a bit... I wonder if Tesla is an indirect victim of the latest wave of AI hype? It seems like they were on the right track until they decided to go all in and shift their major focus from making a great electric "driver's car" to self-drive or bust. Self-drive probably consumed insane amounts of capital, and has greatly harmed the company's reputation by causing serious accidents because it is clearly not ready.
The shadow braking thing really reveals how primitive "AI" actually is-- this is something a bumblebee would not do, and its brain consumes milliwatts of power. From what I've read self-drive is really just object recognition combined with spatial mapping, path finding, and a lot of heuristics. The latter is what worries me. "Expert systems" can't capture complex problem domains due to the exponential nature of a combinatorial explosion. There will always be edge cases. Needless to say we will not be uploading consciousness anytime soon, nor will fully autonomous AIs be taking over the world.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago> After that he had a range of little annoying problems, many of which were likely software bugs, but then he (actually his GF) experienced something in autopilot mode known on the Tesla forums as "shadow braking" -- the car braking hard on the highway because it seems to see the shadow of an overpass and think it's a wall. This is extremely dangerous. It was on the I-405 (SoCal) going 70-80mph, and such a thing could easily cause a rear end collision. This is a known issue. It isn't a software bug. It is autopilot learning that the overpass isn't a tractor trailer or other large object the camera can't discriminate crossing the path of the vehicle. [1] It was introduced after this fatality [2]. With that said, if that causes concern for the driver, the vehicle isn't for them. [1] https://www.tesla.com/blog/upgrading-autopilot-seeing-world-radar https://www.tesla.com/blog/upgrading-autopilot-seeing-world-... [2] https://electrek.co/2016/07/01/understanding-fatal-tesla-accident-autopilot-nhtsa-probe/ https://electrek.co/2016/07/01/understanding-fatal-tesla-acc...
- emptyfile 8y agoHoly shit!!!?! Potential life threatening maneuvers on the road are a feature of the self-learning Autopilot system???? Because without it the car will just ram itself into a wall??? >With that said, if that causes concern for the driver, the vehicle isn't for them. What if it causes concern for the driver behind them, what then? My family will get a settlement after a Tesla kills me? How the fuck are these cars legal anywhere???
- toomuchtodo 8y agoThe driver behind a vehicle is primarily responsible for any rear end collision (US-specific, YMMV elsewhere). Should probably not tailgate a Tesla (or tailgate in general). > How the fuck are these cars legal anywhere??? They're legal because Autopilot is driver assistance. The driver is still 100% responsible, just as they would be for cruise control.
- jacquesm 8y ago> The driver behind a vehicle is primarily responsible for any rear end collision (US-specific, YMMV elsewhere). Not if you slam on the brakes without cause on the highway.