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Elon and Shotwell in 2018 said that by 2028 it will have operating passenger service for between a business class ticket and coach ticket price. They claimed i

by cma 3y ago

Elon and Shotwell in 2018 said that by 2028 it will have operating passenger service for between a business class ticket and coach ticket price. They claimed it again around 2020 or 2021. Competitive pricing with air travel. And he said that the Semi will be competitive with rail and could already operate in follow the leader convoy mode back in 2017: they were just waiting on regulators to give the ok! Never seen testing it but I guess they did the whole project in secret and shelved it without applying to regulators in a public way.

travisgriggs 3y ago
How would this ever be possible given the volume of fuel a starship launch entails?
- modeless 3y ago
  It would carry 1000 people, so divide by 1000, and methane is cheap, plus it's going to save up to 16 hours or so on long haul routes so people may be willing to pay a reasonable premium. The much bigger issue, to me, is safety. I don't see how the Starship design could ever be anywhere near as safe as regular air travel. There are also issues with noise requiring the launch and landing to take place far away from your destination, reducing the travel time benefit. And it's unclear if the general population would be able to tolerate the G-forces and wild maneuvers required.
  - bongobingo1 3y ago
    > landing to take place far away from your destination, reducing the travel time benefit. Thats where you get on your private jet to fly the last 10 miles. Simple.
maxlin 3y ago
This doesn't in any way even contest the original point. Timeline maybe, but we all know Elon(r) Valve(r) time, it's the kind of time we all hope would move faster but most don't rip their game pants out of impatience. About the Semi, there's zero reason to believe anything is being shelved. The truck itself is ready and being tested in practice by Pepsico and Tesla itself. Jay Leno teste drove it and was impressed. Where does this unnecessary negativity come from? We should cheer these kind of unique projects auspicious for civilization.
- cma 3y ago
  > About the Semi, there's zero reason to believe anything is being shelved. The truck itself is ready and being tested in practice by Pepsico and Tesla itself. Jay Leno teste drove it and was impressed. I didn't say they couldn't build the Semi; he said it could already do automated convoy follower driving in 2017. Still nowhere to be seen.
  - maxlin 3y ago
    To be honest that sounds like the easiest thing to do. I remember reading of a similar thing in some invention's book made in 1993 or so. They probably have a working version of it, mostly just need to release the damn truck, and figure out legal for it

by cma 3y ago

travisgriggs 3y ago

How would this ever be possible given the volume of fuel a starship launch entails?

modeless 3y ago
It would carry 1000 people, so divide by 1000, and methane is cheap, plus it's going to save up to 16 hours or so on long haul routes so people may be willing to pay a reasonable premium. The much bigger issue, to me, is safety. I don't see how the Starship design could ever be anywhere near as safe as regular air travel. There are also issues with noise requiring the launch and landing to take place far away from your destination, reducing the travel time benefit. And it's unclear if the general population would be able to tolerate the G-forces and wild maneuvers required.
- bongobingo1 3y ago
  > landing to take place far away from your destination, reducing the travel time benefit. Thats where you get on your private jet to fly the last 10 miles. Simple.

maxlin 3y ago

This doesn't in any way even contest the original point. Timeline maybe, but we all know Elon(r) Valve(r) time, it's the kind of time we all hope would move faster but most don't rip their game pants out of impatience. About the Semi, there's zero reason to believe anything is being shelved. The truck itself is ready and being tested in practice by Pepsico and Tesla itself. Jay Leno teste drove it and was impressed. Where does this unnecessary negativity come from? We should cheer these kind of unique projects auspicious for civilization.

cma 3y ago
> About the Semi, there's zero reason to believe anything is being shelved. The truck itself is ready and being tested in practice by Pepsico and Tesla itself. Jay Leno teste drove it and was impressed. I didn't say they couldn't build the Semi; he said it could already do automated convoy follower driving in 2017. Still nowhere to be seen.
- maxlin 3y ago
  To be honest that sounds like the easiest thing to do. I remember reading of a similar thing in some invention's book made in 1993 or so. They probably have a working version of it, mostly just need to release the damn truck, and figure out legal for it