Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
The robotaxi companies have been more than just a bit misleading to both the public and the regulators. Untruths or downright lies? You decide…
1) Tesla is acknowledging they cannot create level-5 autonomy and that instead teleoperation needs to be used; 2) they currently do not have teleoperation infrastructure; and 3) they don't seem to understand that one cannot remotely drive a vehicle, but instead can only give instructions, as Waymo does.
Even the Optimus robot toy appears to be some more Tesla fakery, on which to support all their other fakery
Paris Marx reports in dazeen how we are currently going through yet another hype cycle with self-driving cars. This will definitely not help solve our transportation issues.
Inside EVs reports on a test of "Full" Self Driving (FSD) on a Cybertruck. In short, pedestrians are going to die.
iSeeCars reports that
Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate by brand, even with their allegedly safety oriented driver assist and FSD.
Not Just Bikes posts an epic video on not just the problems of self driving cars, but how they would turn our cities into driving hell - unless we do something about it.
David Zipper reports in Bloomberg on how robotaxis cause harm to public transportation, and that their statements otherwise are simply greenwashing.
NBC4 Washington reports that the Tesla Smart Summon system is dangerous and shoddy. And even though the self driving system has always had problems, Tesla has switched away from using much needed distance sensors.
This is likely the biggest autonomous traffic jam ever! Thanks for nothing, Waymo.
Waymo is once again being misleading. This time, not only are their vehicles zero emission, but they are also claiming that they encourage public transit use.
Streetsblog reports on a new paper from researchers at Duke, Stanford, U-C Berkeley and the University of Chicago. The paper describes why electric vehicles are only slightly better than ones with internal combustion engines, and that therefore EV subsidies should be rethought. This is very relevant to robotaxis since the companies falsely claim that they are beneficial to society because they are EVs.
Business Insider reports on how the Tesla robotaxi is still no where close to being viable. They do not have the necessary technology, are not even developing it, will not be able to deal with the many regulations, and will have great deal of trouble catching up with other companies.
Gizmodo reports on how the "robots" at the Tesla robotaxi reveal event were no robots at all, but instead just teleoperated (manually controlled). No AI. No cool tech. Just another lie by Elon Musk.
Jalopnik reports on how the "robots" at the Tesla robotaxi reveal event were no robots at all, but instead just teleoperated (manually controlled). No AI. No cool tech. Just another lie by Elon Musk.
Elon Musk gives a lame presentation about robotaxis and Tesla stock drops by a whopping $88.5B. Ouch! It is clear that Tesla will not be producing a robotaxi system, a lower-cost car, nor useful robots in the foreseeable future.
