Full autonomy in 2-3 years

[EcoHeliGuy]

Google isn't building drive assisted systems. They are building automated people movers. And I think those are fundamentally different.

I believe Google is building an automated uber type system. And Tesla is building the safest and environmentally right personal car. Teslas way you still own and purchase your car. Googles is more of a transit system.

 

[Max*]

The self-driving bubble shaped Google cars are capped at 25 mph (mentioned at FAQ – Google Self-Driving Car Project). They've had self-driving Priuses and Lexus RX SUVs for many years now and they are NOT capped at 25 mph.

For example, you can see references to highways and 63 mph at https://static.googleusercontent.co.../selfdrivingcar/files/reports/report-0515.pdf. Google: Self-driving cars are mastering city streets - CNN.com and many others from around that era from 2014 state "Since 2011, when self-driving vehicles became street-legal in Nevada, Google has logged nearly 700,000 miles with the cars, mostly on highways..."

Cool, thanks.

 

[ecarfan]

Google isn't building drive assisted systems. They are building automated people movers. And I think those are fundamentally different.

I believe Google is building an automated uber type system. And Tesla is building the safest and environmentally right personal car. Teslas way you still own and purchase your car. Googles is more of a transit system.

I agree with you about what Google is aiming towards, and what Tesla is doing now.
But I believe Tesla is also aiming towards what you describe as Google's goal. On an Earnings Call last year, an analyst asked Elon if Tesla planned to create a completely autonomous vehicle that people could use as needed but not own, the vehicle would essentially take care of itself (park itself and wait for the next customer request, charge itself, etc.). Elon paused for a bit, said that was a very good question and he was not going to answer it, but it was a very good question.
It is likely that Elon is seriously considering such a vehicle and that he believes there is a market for it, and I agree with him. I think in less than a decade there will be a large market for such vehicles, and many people in urban areas will have no need to own a car because of the ready availability of smart autonomous vehicles. They won't look anything like a Model S, they will look more like the latest Google car. But of course Elon would never build something that ugly. ;-)

 

[EcoHeliGuy]

I agree with you about what Google is aiming towards, and what Tesla is doing now.
But I believe Tesla is also aiming towards what you describe as Google's goal. On an Earnings Call last year, an analyst asked Elon if Tesla planned to create a completely autonomous vehicle that people could use as needed but not own, the vehicle would essentially take care of itself (park itself and wait for the next customer request, charge itself, etc.). Elon paused for a bit, said that was a very good question and he was not going to answer it, but it was a very good question.
It is likely that Elon is seriously considering such a vehicle and that he believes there is a market for it, and I agree with him. I think in less than a decade there will be a large market for such vehicles, and many people in urban areas will have no need to own a car because of the ready availability of smart autonomous vehicles. They won't look anything like a Model S, they will look more like the latest Google car. But of course Elon would never build something that ugly. ;-)

My take on his statement was that they wouldn't close the door on that option, and could build a purpose built car for that market.

But I believe Tesla as it stands now, want to build a person car that handles the driving for you.

Think of it this way in the future (law changes required) some people love the feel of a Mercedes Benz S-class, Mini Cooper S, or a supercar. It's possible in the future, you buy your driving style car and it will drive you around that way.