Will HUD add significant safety in self driving Tesla? 4-8 weeks away

[calisnow]

Is there any public data in whether HUDS reduce crashes significantly? In a self driving Tesla every time you wonder what it's doing next you currently must look down temporarily. At the very least a HUD will force eyes out of the cockpit and back on the road - so hopefully a corner case the car isn't prepared for will be seen more quickly by the human backup driver.

Mainly I'm just itching to pull the trigger on an AP 2 car and I need it yesterday. So hard to keep waiting but I think the "spaceship controls" are two months away or less for Model S (Model 3 reveal part 3).

 

[mblakele]

Google tells me that a 2015 U of Toronto study suggested a HUD might reduce safety. But that study used a lab situation, not real driving data.

Sorry for not answering your question, but if you need it now I'd get it now. For high-tech gizmos I find that's the only strategy that works.

Let's say Tesla introduces HUD as the new hotness for Q2, at the start of April. You can order it, but you won't get the car until May. Now you've waited about three months. Can you wait that long?

Also, do you really want an early HUD? Personally I'd rather go with (relatively) proven technology. Right now I'd be agonizing over the choice between a CPO HW1 with APv1, vs risking HW2 and hoping that the software gets to parity quickly.

 

[calisnow]

Also, do you really want an early HUD? Personally I'd rather go with (relatively) proven technology. Right now I'd be agonizing over the choice between a CPO HW1 with APv1, vs risking HW2 and hoping that the software gets to parity quickly.

You make a good point. Although I have an AP 1 car - I would not buy another. It is fantastic tech within its limitations but it makes you long for something that you can truly, safely take your eyes off the road while using. It's like it's thiiiissssssss close - but no cigar. Hardware 2 will get there and then surpass it no doubt. The simple fact that it can run much finer grained neural nets due to the insane processing power leave me no doubt it will surpass the reliability of AP 1.

 

[bswn1]

The thing that's very interesting is how the community has decided it's a foregone conclusion we're getting a HUD, but we haven't seen any evidence of it yet. It's based purely on speculation based on a Tweet and some deductive reasoning.

In the past, rumors that seemed to not go away have a nearly perfect track record although the timing was often wrong (refresh / AP2 hardware / 100D / etc.). However, with all the above, we had at least some inside information from inside Tesla that the mentioned things were at least in the works. It's been total radio silence re: HUD leading me to believe we may not see it come March.

It's Tesla so hoping they surprise us.

 

[GSP]

Mainly I'm just itching to pull the trigger on an AP 2 car and I need it yesterday. So hard to keep waiting but I think the "spaceship controls" are two months away or less for Model S (Model 3 reveal part 3).

Since you have an AP1 Tesla, why not wait and see how well the AP2 software works out before you upgrade to a new Tesla?

GSP

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Is there any public data in whether HUDS reduce crashes significantly? In a self driving Tesla every time you wonder what it's doing next you currently must look down temporarily. At the very least a HUD will force eyes out of the cockpit and back on the road - so hopefully a corner case the car isn't prepared for will be seen more quickly by the human backup driver.

Mainly I'm just itching to pull the trigger on an AP 2 car and I need it yesterday. So hard to keep waiting but I think the "spaceship controls" are two months away or less for Model S (Model 3 reveal part 3).

The problem with public data is it will be across all cars, and with most cars you only briefly look down at the speedometer or GPS. There is also the problem with how much data can go on the HUD. I don't want a ton of information which some studies might have.

With the Tesla you're looking down constantly, and then you have the large center console screen that can't be turned off to distract you as well.

I am in the same shoes as you are where I have an AP1 car that kinda teases me with what's possible, but doesn't really get there. But, unlike you I'm not going to risk anything until I'm confident an AP2 is capable of doing what I want it to do.

I'd like them to implement a HUD to get some of the information down there to up where my eyes are. Like at the very least the blindspot monitoring system even though it really should be in the mirrors.

But, even without the HUD I would trade up if they added things like a 360 degree camera view (which is possible with the cameras), dash cam recording, and if they completely fixed the blindspot monitoring system (which is also possible).

But, I won't if the side/rear view cameras are ineffective in the rain (like the rearview camera in an HW1 car).

I also won't if hands on the steering wheel remain enforced. I also likely won't get it if it can't change lanes by itself like they claim can be done with EAP.

As long as it can reach at least level III in moderate rain then I'll get it even if I have to get the EAP and FSD package.

 

[3Victoria]

Also, do you really want an early HUD?

Of course that is just early hardware, but since the software will be continuously upgraded you likely won't lose out on functionality. HUD hardware is pretty well developed, so its not a real stretch to put it into new cars.

That said, I expect we won't see HUD until the next Model 3 reveal, likely at the end of March. If it is announced for the Model 3, I would expect that it will also be included in all new S/X, too, from that date. The secrecy around it is to prevent Osborning of current models.

Every buyer of Teslas will be faced with the "should I wait for the next great thing, or not." Best advice I can give is: If you like the car as it is today, then buy today. If you wait for the next new thing, you will never buy!

 

[AVRnj]

If HUD comes out, will it be standard or an upgrade? And if standard, will there be a price increase?

 

[deonb]

If HUD comes out, will it be standard or an upgrade? And if standard, will there be a price increase?

Yes.

 

[Saghost]

Since you have an AP1 Tesla, why not wait and see how well the AP2 software works out before you upgrade to a new Tesla?

GSP

This. I would love to have a car that drives itself, but I'm waiting until Tesla actually releases firmware which can do some of that. I expect a new set of hardware in the fall for at least the heart of the AP system (If Tesla doesn't release their own system like some rumors have it, NVidia is releasing a system on a chip for driving that has 60% more processing speed on about 12% of the power, which I'd expect them to adopt.)

Until they actually have experience driving the cars, they won't have a great handle on the hardware they really need for it, so I'm expecting AP3 to replace AP2 sooner than AP2 replaced AP1, and that will actually have the hardware to do it right. And the HUD, and 2170 battery packs, and whatever else Tesla dreams up in the next year.

If I didn't have a Tesla, that'd be different, but right now AP2 isn't an upgrade, and it'll be a while before it's a significant one.

 

[Saghost]

If HUD comes out, will it be standard or an upgrade? And if standard, will there be a price increase?

If it exists, and if it is standard on the 3 as folks here seem to think, then I'd expect it to be standard on the S/X too.

 

[AVRnj]

If it exists, and if it is standard on the 3 as folks here seem to think, then I'd expect it to be standard on the S/X too.

Is it worth holding out on ordering for a HUD?

 

[Saghost]

Is it worth holding out on ordering for a HUD?

Depends on how much a HUD is worth to you. The S and X are the most advanced, most capable cars on the road today as they are.

A HUD like other car makers have won't really change the driving experience that much IMO. If Tesla goes all in with an augmented reality HUD like the one Panasonic showed at CES, that'd be different - but still not as big a leap as going from something else to a Tesla.

I would love to have AP2, but I don't really regret getting my X two months before it was announced (after a four month wait,) because it's such a good car and I would have been driving my Volt the whole time instead.

For folks that already have a Tesla and are thinking about upgrades, I think waiting makes more sense than for folks who don't have one - but waiting for a feature we don't know for a fact are coming is a rather slippery slope...

 

[JBsC6]

I have the heads up display in my corvette z51 and it neither improves or decreases safety.

 

[oktane]

The S and X are the most advanced, most capable cars on the road today as they are.

Based on what metric? Sounds like an overly broad generalization to me.

 

[theslimshadyist]

If HUD is holding you back, I would think again. I had it in my 550i and I don't miss it a bit in my MS because my car is light years ahead of any vehicle with a lousy HUD.

 

[calisnow]

Since you have an AP1 Tesla, why not wait and see how well the AP2 software works out before you upgrade to a new Tesla?
GSP

It's not an upgrade - it's an addition to the family.

 

[l.10.i]

Wait, I think it's big stretch to think that the new HUD technology (Tesla Glass?) rumored to be demoed in Model 3 part 3 reveal would be introduced in the Model S or X before any new major revision. Certainly not just after part 3.

 

[Saghost]

Based on what metric? Sounds like an overly broad generalization to me.

It is a broad generalization. But between Autopilot and Tesla traction control and instant torque and phone apps and OTA updates, it seems like a valid one to me.

 

[JHuberman]

To solve the problem of having to look down when a warning chimes, the chime should be followed with a verbal warning of the danger. One should be able to customize in settings as to which warnings you wanted to be followed by a verbal statement. Personally, I would like any of the collision warnings, and the parking distance warnings to be verbal after the chime.