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Tesla Shifts the Goalposts For 'Full Self-Driving' Technology (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the self-driving-strategy dept.

AmiMoJo writes: Tesla has been selling "full self-driving" capability since 2016, promising that "you will be able to summon your Tesla from pretty much anywhere," and that "once it picks you up, you will be able to sleep, read or do anything else en route [sic] to your destination." Last week Tesla shifted the goalposts, redefining "full self-driving" as a number of Level 2 driver assistance features that were already available, and a few new tricks to be delivered later. All will require a qualified driver behind the wheel, paying attention at all times and ready to take over if the car can't handle the situation. Worse, owners who bought the previous full self-driving feature paid $8,000 for it. Tesla is now offering owners who bought their cars prior to the change the same package for $5,000. Owners who paid the $3,000 higher price are unsure if the previously promised technology has been abandoned and Level 2 is now the most they can expect.

2 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. Tesla-starter by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Musk has been very successful in getting Tesla treated like Kickstarter - people paying money, $8,000 for this software, thousands to reserve a car, for things that did not exist at the time. Usually using similar motivations as kickstarter - preordering because they like the company and want it to exist even more than because they want the product. Man, I wish I had that salesmanship.

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    Your ad here. Ask me how!
  2. Re:Who wants to ride self-driving cars? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know as a techie that humans tend to be really bad at statistics and often over estimate the abilities of technology and underestimate the abilities of humans. Techies are especially bad about this.

    You seem to forget that self driving cars "freak up" about once every 600 miles right now, humans "freak up" about once every 150,000. And that human number includes all the very worst drivers driving in all the very worst conditions. That self driving car number is them operating only in the best conditions. Fact is, the average human driver will only be in a handful of accidents in their life time and will never be in a severe injury or fatal accident.

    Humans tend to be very bad about understanding rare occurrences in large populations. Yes, somebody dies in a car wreck every day. The chances of you dying in a car wreck ever are very small.