5 ms·

My expectation is that Teslas real play with the Semi is a long term plan for self driving trucks. It seems to me that "backhaul" routs are the most likely to

My expectation is that Teslas real play with the Semi is a long term plan for self driving trucks. It seems to me that "backhaul" routs are the most likely to benefit from self driving, either with a person on board or not. Use a self driving truck, where you aren't paying a driver by the hour. It doesn't need to overtake, can drive at the most economical speed. It can stick to very well controlled and mapped routes. Restrict them to certain lanes on the road. Place depots at the exit/entry points to the backhaul where the cab is swapped out for one with a driver. They may claim this is "designed around the driver", but the reality is it's designed around (eventually) making the driver redundant. Why design a cab to be optimised to the driver when you plan to remove them. No, you design around efficiency, that's what they have done here. That's not to say I believe that Tesla will achieve that, or that this can is well designed. I think it will be companies with a long history in the industry, understanding of their local markets, that will do this.

flutas 4y ago
> It seems to me that "backhaul" routs are the most likely to benefit from self driving, either with a person on board or not. Use a self driving truck, where you aren't paying a driver by the hour. It doesn't need to overtake, can drive at the most economical speed. It can stick to very well controlled and mapped routes. Restrict them to certain lanes on the road. Place depots at the exit/entry points to the backhaul where the cab is swapped out for one with a driver. Stage one of that is probably "Convoy Mode" as they call it. > “Convoy Mode,” which optimizes efficiency while allowing several uncrewed trucks to follow a lead, crewed vehicle. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/16/tesla-semi-has-the-technical-capability-to-convoy-today/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/16/tesla-semi-has-the-technic... NOTE: not talking about feasibility one way or the other, just mentioning that they have claimed similar goals in the past.
reaperducer 4y ago
My expectation is that Teslas real play with the Semi is a long term plan for self driving trucks. Then Tesla has a lot of catching up to do. Other companies have been running driverless big rigs between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio for at least two years.
kelnos 4y ago
I was about to say driving at the most economical speed is a non-starter, as truck drivers in the current regime feel pressured to complete their trips faster. But of course a driverless truck doesn't need to stop to sleep, just to charge, so it can probably drive slower and still complete trips in a shorter overall time.

flutas 4y ago

> It seems to me that "backhaul" routs are the most likely to benefit from self driving, either with a person on board or not. Use a self driving truck, where you aren't paying a driver by the hour. It doesn't need to overtake, can drive at the most economical speed. It can stick to very well controlled and mapped routes. Restrict them to certain lanes on the road. Place depots at the exit/entry points to the backhaul where the cab is swapped out for one with a driver. Stage one of that is probably "Convoy Mode" as they call it. > “Convoy Mode,” which optimizes efficiency while allowing several uncrewed trucks to follow a lead, crewed vehicle. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/16/tesla-semi-has-the-technical-capability-to-convoy-today/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/16/tesla-semi-has-the-technic... NOTE: not talking about feasibility one way or the other, just mentioning that they have claimed similar goals in the past.

reaperducer 4y ago

My expectation is that Teslas real play with the Semi is a long term plan for self driving trucks. Then Tesla has a lot of catching up to do. Other companies have been running driverless big rigs between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio for at least two years.

kelnos 4y ago

I was about to say driving at the most economical speed is a non-starter, as truck drivers in the current regime feel pressured to complete their trips faster. But of course a driverless truck doesn't need to stop to sleep, just to charge, so it can probably drive slower and still complete trips in a shorter overall time.