Slashdot Mirror

Super Cruise is a feature of Cadillac vehicles, not Tesla. I believe the Tesla feature is called Autopilot.

V2V cannot be done until the protocol used has been thoroughly tested. And that means not only in house, but with input from computer security experts.

There are vehicles on the road with V2V right now .

These companies don't publish sales numbers but I'm willing to bet he's taken at least 1/4 of their business by how quickly they are trying to respond to a market they all said was pointless two years ago

Yes, the companies do publish sales numbers. You just have to know where to look.

According to Elon Musk, Tesla sold a little over 33,000 cars by the end of Q3 this year. Cadillac sells more than that in less than two months. Lexus and Mercedes are at 249,956 and 249,890 respectively for the year through Q3.

1/4 of their business? Hardly.

You invent a cheaper rechargeable battery that matches LiIon on energy density, and congratulations, you've reduced the price of a model S.

If the battery was free, it would still cost twice what I paid for a decent car. This is a top end luxury vehicle, not a green vehicle.

But this isn't what you would call a "decent car", its a luxury performance electric.
It starts in the same price range as a Cacillac CTS-V Coupe. (67K). Where as Cadillac (perversely) proudly displays the $2600 gas guzzler line item on their website, the Model S lists a $7,500 tax credit.

That you wouldn't consider paying that much for a decent car is not germane. It is still comparable to vehicles in its class. And contrary to your assertion, it is a GREEN vehicle, using the standards of "Green" that are commonly applied to cars.
But there are other models in the pipeline, at cheaper price points. And if the same frame construction is used for these, and they could earn the same safety ratings, it will clearly be a good thing.

They will always cost more than your ricer. But that's hardly the market segment this car is aiming for.

An engineer friend told me that road damage is proportional to the fourth power of the weight, so an SUV that weighs 5500 pounds will wear the roads approximately 10 times faster than a hybrid that weights 3000 pounds

I can tell you that you're flat-out wrong on that damage part. How do I know this? I work for a state DOT...

And.. ? You've conducted studies on the damage caused by cars with varying weights and published your peer-reviewed results where exactly? Or do you just work at a state DOT and take long lunch breaks?

An engineer friend told me that road damage is proportional to the fourth power of the weight, so an SUV that weighs 5500 pounds will wear the roads approximately 10 times faster than a hybrid that weights 3000 pounds

I can tell you that you're flat-out wrong on that damage part. How do I know this? I work for a state DOT...

Electric/hybrid vehicles should pay less per mile as they do less damage to the roads. An engineer friend told me that road damage is proportional to the fourth power of the weight, so an SUV that weighs 5500 pounds will wear the roads approximately 10 times faster than a hybrid that weights 3000 pounds. It's only fair and reasonable that the Escalade driver pays 10 times the gas taxes, assuming that lawmakers are being honest about what those taxes are used for. Yeah, I know; I had a hard time typing that last part with a straight face.

You're absolutely correct, with a list price of FROM $64,515 - $74,910, it's a lot more than I'd spend on a car unless I suddenly became a lot more well off. And in that price range, BMW has some fine offerings.

Actually it is an exceptional price for what it is compared to the German options. Speaking of BMW the CTS-V is a competitor with the M5 which costs about a third more. If you are looking for a high performance (but not track) coupe or sedan, it shouldn't be ignored. And here in the States if you want a bad ass wagen then it's the only game in town. Unfortunately the wagen's cargo area is ridiculously small and the horrid MPG made it a non-starter for me when I needed a new "traveling with the dogs and kid, but have fun the rest of the time" car.

And, really, my perception is that, like most North American cars ... it can go hella fast in a straight line, but can't corner worth shit. I'm sure that's not true any more, but the few Cadillacs I've ever driven in have that overly mushy ride which I can't stand.

This is still true for most American "sports" cars, but GM has been doing wonders with the Vette for a few years now so that it is actually a real competitor on the track and they took much of that knowledge into the CTS-V. It performs on par with the BMWs (and I'd argue better than the Mercs).

Personally I like the German cars as they fit what I want the best, but the CTS-V is nothing to ignore simply because it's American.

You clearly have not test driven a Cadillac CTS-V

You're absolutely correct, with a list price of FROM $64,515 - $74,910, it's a lot more than I'd spend on a car unless I suddenly became a lot more well off. And in that price range, BMW has some fine offerings.

And, really, my perception is that, like most North American cars ... it can go hella fast in a straight line, but can't corner worth shit. I'm sure that's not true any more, but the few Cadillacs I've ever driven in have that overly mushy ride which I can't stand.

Hell, I could probably buy two really nicely equipped cars for the price of a single Cadillac, and I've not reached the point where I'd entertain spending the kind of money we're talking about on a car. Then again, I want all wheel drive and cargo space ... so a Subaru Outback would suit my tastes a little better. :-P

>just start by reducing engine displacement and increasing efficiency.

That's a lovely post, but we have a problem in the U.S. in that our consumer culture is really dumb.

Examples: Cadillac SRX Crossover, Cadillac Escalade HYBRID LOL $73,000.

First, ask yourself if you could ever see yourself in one of these cars. Stretch the limits of your imagination. Imagine that P. Puff Diddy Daddy Combs, aka "Sean", personally invited you to a coke party and offered you a ride. Even then it's 50/50 on stepping into an Escalade, right? I mean, your balls could literally fall off.

Now realize that a Cadillac Escalade is precisely what the average American uses to buy groceries.

America is Disneyland, my Irish friend. It is literally Disneyland. And that's not good if you're over 10 years old.

>just start by reducing engine displacement and increasing efficiency.

That's a lovely post, but we have a problem in the U.S. in that our consumer culture is really dumb.

Examples: Cadillac SRX Crossover, Cadillac Escalade HYBRID LOL $73,000.

First, ask yourself if you could ever see yourself in one of these cars. Stretch the limits of your imagination. Imagine that P. Puff Diddy Daddy Combs, aka "Sean", personally invited you to a coke party and offered you a ride. Even then it's 50/50 on stepping into an Escalade, right? I mean, your balls could literally fall off.

Now realize that a Cadillac Escalade is precisely what the average American uses to buy groceries.

America is Disneyland, my Irish friend. It is literally Disneyland. And that's not good if you're over 10 years old.

The submitter does sound like a very rich man: intellectually and emotionally, which I would always take over an Escalade.

* Note to the humor impaired: this is a joke.

One thing is for sure, all that wiring sucks.

Amen to that. That's why I'm really glad that modern luxury cars use Microprocessors for everything. Only the wiring that's absolutely necessary goes into the cars. Everything else is on a few chips that can theoretically last hundreds of years longer than their highly corrosive ancestors.

BTW, all this talk of Caddys got me interested in checking out their latest offerings. It's times like this that I wish I really was Bruce Wayne, because I'd go and get myself a new Batmobile from GM. I mean 16 cylinders, 4 wheel steering, aluminum body, and a whopping 1000 horsepower!? I want one! (Or at least a chance to drive one through a state with no speed limit. YEEEEE-HAAAA!) ;-)

We think the same about you.

1. Car in fog. It would be nice to have a heads up display on my winshield, kind of like Cadillac did with night vision some years ago... Whatever happened to that anyway?

From Cadillac's web site...
"DeVille, DHS and DTS are the only cars in the world to offer the technology of Night Vision."

Cool stuff actually. Their web site has a nice flash demo. http://www.cadillac.com/

Anyone have any experience with these yet??

The STS V8 has magnetic ride control

Magnetic Ride Control

It's not a purely electrical suspension, but uses computers to control the amount of damping the suspension gives.

How did this get modded informative? An infinitely variable damper is not a gimmick. It would be infinitely useful. The demonstration where the car jumps is just showing how much force this suspension system can generate. The real innovation here is that everything is done electronically, whereas older systems used hydraulics. Check out this article for the basics of why this is a good thing: Active Suspension Also, GM's new Cadillac XLR uses an electromagnetic suspension, as well as the forthcoming 6th generation Corvette.

Cadillac pickup truck. Looks pretty factory to me.

Oh, and if you want to pick nits about the EXT not being a pickup, check this out. I think that's pretty clearly a pickup truck. Sure, it's FoMoCo, but they're the same damn thing.

This is similar to the ultimate pimp daddy car, the Cadillac Sixteen. Engine is also 1000hp.

They made money off copyright infringement. Granted it was indirect, but it was still making money by facilitating large amounts of copyright infringement.

First, see this article from five years ago.
Now, take a look here and here.
Is it any real surprise that the Japanese are leading the way? It's just a matter of time...

Take SUVs out of music videos and television shows.

Why not? The kings of bling would still have their Italian gear, Ferraris, Bentleys, and a plethora of ways to illustrate the bigness of their lives. What I'd hope is that by removing them from depictions of cool, teenagers and lesser-minded adults would be less inclined to dream of rolling down the street in a Cadillac Escalade with twenty-four inch chromed rims. We're sheep. We want them because we want to image-engineer ourselves to include that essence of power, excess, and blatant disregard for practical concerns.

Oh, and as for that other demographic comprised of those who regularly go through their video archives of "Dawson's Creek" and "The Gilmore Girls", sorry. You'll have to lose your SUVs too.

Really? You think this is ugly? I really like what Cadillac is doing style wise.

The Cadillac 16 uses a similar engine and it switches on demand to run on 4, 8 or all 16 cylinders of its 13.6 liter engine. Very cool stuff...

It also explains why im moving to europe in a month from detroit!

How do you know this is something worth doing?

Or is it just a matter or "because we can build something bigger, we should"? Isn't this what led to the Escalade and the Excursion?

Yes, the newer Cadillacs have this exact thing. It has a night vision system via a HUD. See it at Cadillac's web site.

Seriously, though, I was at a mall yesterday, and saw the current Escalade... DAMN, that thing's ugly. Another person in the car with me had a quote I wish I could take credit for:

• "You'll never get me in a vehicle where the badges are bigger than my head!"

Well, for anyone who wants a used one... I bet they'll be cheap! That design can't have much life in it, and when it's not new anymore... it's going to look REALLY old!

It costs $50,000. I'm at a loss. A pick-up truck is supposed to be a REAL utility vehicle, not some super-luxurious penis-enlarging toy. Just look at this thing.... Is someone going to haul a load of manure in this thing? Or throw a bunch of lumber in the back? What good is it for?

Oh, and for our foreign readers, you can't imagine how big that really is from the pictures. Here's a hint. The wheels are 17 inchers and they look tiny compared to the rest of that vehicle.... It's 221" long, 91.5" wide, and 75.6" tall.

(On second thought, you probably STILL can't imagine how big it is since the measurements aren't metric... :)

It costs $50,000. I'm at a loss. A pick-up truck is supposed to be a REAL utility vehicle, not some super-luxurious penis-enlarging toy. Just look at this thing.... Is someone going to haul a load of manure in this thing? Or throw a bunch of lumber in the back? What good is it for?

Oh, and for our foreign readers, you can't imagine how big that really is from the pictures. Here's a hint. The wheels are 17 inchers and they look tiny compared to the rest of that vehicle.... It's 221" long, 91.5" wide, and 75.6" tall.

(On second thought, you probably STILL can't imagine how big it is since the measurements aren't metric... :)

Also, why don't people say the same thing about Chevy's NorthStar. They can track you in you car.

YM OnStar. Northstar is the engine in the Cadillac. Yes, it's confusing, because Northstar and OnStar are often equipped in the same vehicle.

That would be Nightvision by Cadillac.

GM also has a system that is capable of transmitting from Cadillacs TODAY. It is called OnStar. Read about it. It can transmit your location and it does its transmitting via cell phone. If your air bags deploy the car phones your car's lat/lon into a GM control center. The technology is real and here today. There is another feature going into cars today - A flash ram chip that maintains driving data (speed, rpm, braking, etc) so that if the car is in a collision the cops and insurance companies can figure out who to blame...

"...where the forms could be automatically read, via the RF interface, without even opening the envelopes."

Er, what's to stop me from swiping your mail (somewhere in the chain there's bound to be a weak link, or even from within the mail system itself, we know how dependable they are) and reading it myself? I realize that Census records aren't that interesting, although I'm sure many corporations would love the market research. But if that sorta thing caught on: what if your taxes were filled via paper computer? Sounds like an easy way to get confidential information out of unsuspecting victims.

And anyway, why send a paper computer (which would cost more than paper, and takes a while to reach the destination) when you can send email (with an attachment if need be)? This might be a good idea in a very small amount of applications (in areas where email isn't a viable option for security reasons, for instance), but it seems like it has been outdated by more recent, cheaper, and faster alternatives. Once encryption reaches the right levels, we should be able to do much of what he suggests online (in fact, we already can). If you factor in the fact that all the technology in that paper computer could easily be built into the wall next to your front door (or anywhere), it seems like getting computer-paper mail would be a waste of resources. Factor in portable computers (both PDAs and the more techno-keen wearable computers) and e-books and you have a pretty small market.

I think that, sad as it may be, the market for paper computers is almost past. It would have been a perfect technology for the transition to a more technologically integrated culture (read: computers built into the infrastructure and daily life, but they're so inconspicuous you hardly notice them), but since we seem to be on the road there already--see the computer touchphone, the on-hand PC and driving with night vision--I don't think it's going to work in this late stage. I'm sorry for Jim, but I just don't think he's gonna have luck with the invention. Damn cool invention though.

Is it too damn hard to read the fucking article?

Can't we look at the picture and see what it looks like?

But no... we have to gibber on about how you could paint a Caddy black and put lasers on it and foil cops who have running engines. BLAH BLAH BLAH.

READ THE ARTICLE BEFORE POSTING. YOUR IGNORANCE DOESN'T HELP ANYONE.

Does anyone else notice that the road sign becomes completely black with the Night Vision? I hope this is just the webmaster's error (I doubt that these pictures are actual photographs of Night Vision at work).

--

http://www.cadillac.com/te ch/nightmoves/see/shocked.html

and enjoy!