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Yes, the phrase used in the headline is a direct quote. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is teasing new details about the company's future, set to be announced later this week. The news may be in reaction to slipping stock prices and troubles with regulators following a recent crash:
While offering no other details, the master plan is likely a follow-up to a 2006 blog post titled "The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me)," in which Musk laid out his vision for Tesla, including eventual plans for the Tesla Roadster, the Model S sedan and the upcoming (and more affordable) Model 3 sedan.
It may not be a bad idea for Musk to roll out some optimistic news. In recent weeks, the electric car company has become the subject of a federal safety investigation following at least two crashes — one fatal — possibly related to its highly touted autopilot feature; Tesla has announced a drop in Model S shipments; and Musk himself has come under fire after proposing that Tesla purchase SolarCity, which he is also the chairman of, much to the chagrin of shareholders.
[...] Tesla shares are down almost 10% year-to-date, and down more than 16% in the past 12 months.
You may also be interested in this NYT editorial about "Lessons From the Tesla Crash".
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Monday July 11 2016, @11:07PM
Catch-22. There need to be enough robot cars on the road to actually collect the data about safety. I'd bet that insurance companies actually raise rates at first for robot cars just because they'll be unproven outside of Google's data.
- A robot car does need to be Platonically perfect
- A robot car does need to be a better driven than Mario Andretti
- A robot car must get a perfect score on every DMV test
The press shows over and over again every time there's a collision involving either a Tesla or a Google car that it's going to frame Tesla/Google as inherently unsafe. Never underestimate the ability of mass brainwashing to overcome what should be an easy, logical conclusion.
Sure, eventually the data will speak for itself, but that's going to take quite a while.
(Score: 2) by quintessence on Tuesday July 12 2016, @04:34AM
When ABS was introduced, it took a few decades for it to gain traction, and as even as early as the 1980s when it was just starting to become widespread, there were doubts from even innovative manufacturers like BMW as to its effectiveness (which is the reason they gave for not employing it sooner).
Even today, ABS increases braking distances on slick surfaces. It is still mandatory on all vehicles. It has still reduced the total number of crashes by a fair amount.
You lack history in how features are adopted in the automotive world. An overall gain is more important from a regulatory standpoint. The brainwashed masses will simply not be early adopters, but short of an outright ban, the numbers will trickle forwards with every tech advancement, which is far more accelerated now than in the 1980s.
(Score: 3, Funny) by VanessaE on Tuesday July 12 2016, @11:58AM
If your ABS system is taking decades to gain traction, you're either driving incredibly fast, or you have the worst implementation of that system that was ever devised.