Brad Ideas

Robocars & More

It's surprisingly common to see articles and videos from Tesla fans who believe that Tesla FSD is a contender -- even the leader -- in self-driving development. The reality is it's still not even in the race compared to other players. In this video, I pretend to be a super Tesla FSD fan and I give the reasons they commonly give for feeling that Tesla rules the roost, but in a way that makes the flaws in those arguments more apparent.

Ford Motor company has announced that starting next year, Fords will get access to Tesla's supercharger network via an adapter, and later, new Fords will be made with the Tesla NACS built in.

New rules greatly increase the time until solar panels pay for their cost, making it more important to store the power in batteries or cars, and even sell to neighbors.

Waymo now serves a large contiguous area in Phoenix, and is doing 10,000 rides/week. But it's not a car replacement yet, which it needs to be.

Read more at Forbes.com in Waymo Hits 2 Million No-Driver Miles And Expands Phoenix Robotaxi Zone. Can It Replace Your Car?

Robotaxis are sometimes not acting well when meeting fire trucks and other emergency vehicles. Here's a look at some incidents, what could be done better, and how to manage it. Includes exclusive Waymo's-eye view of police interaction

Read more at Forbes.com in What Should Happen When A Robocar Meets An Emergency Vehicle, To Avoid A Paradox Of Safety?

Tesla's crash data seem amazing, but the reality is very different and many have been misled by the numbers. In actuality, there's no strong case that Teslas are much safer with Autopilot on

Read more at Forbes.com in Tesla Again Paints A Very Misleading Story With Their Crash Data

Many companies are looking to make self-driving trucks. Einride feels they are the best path to electric trucks, and that's the best way to reduce emissions.

Read more at Forbes.com in Einride s Self-Driving Goal Is Medium-Haul Electric Trucks, Not Long Haul. Here s Why.

Chinese companies have been expanding their operation of robotaxis with no employee aboard Baidu Apollo (sometimes called the Google of China) has expanded in Whuhan, Chongqing and Beijing and AutoX has expanded to Shanghai.

Read more at Forbes.com in Baidu, AutoX Expand Uncrewed Robotaxi Operations In China - Will The World Catch Up?

Here is my 4K video from a SpaceX Falcon-9 night launch with landing back at the pad at Vandenberg.

San Francisco Muni decided to study problems caused by robotaxis, possibly hoping to gather data to oppose them. Instead, their data shows they are doing amazingly well and should end the debate.

Read more at Forbes.com in Transit Study Reveals Robotaxis Causing Surprisingly Little Disruption On Streets

Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt has released an explanation of the cause, or proximate cause, of their crash last week with a San Francisco Muni bus.

Read more at Forbes.com in GM s Cruise Robotaxi vs Bus Crash Caused By Confusion Over Articulated Bus; They Say It s Fixed

Austin, TX, April 1 2023 - Tesla announced today that it's new low-cost car, known as the Model 2, will not come standard with a steering wheel or pedals. That's not because it will only work with Tesla's "Full Self Driving" system, but rather because they have been made virtual, through AI and the interior camera used for driver monitoring.

The mandatory report reveals the bus was slowing to a stop and wasn't doing anything odd when the Cruise hit it. This really shouldn't happen

Read more at Forbes.com in Cruise DMV Crash Report Suggests Their Car At Fault In Hitting Bus

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A Cruise Robotaxi, apparently with nobody aboard, has rear ended a San Francisco Muni bus on March 23. Nobody was injured and damage to the bus was modest, but more severe to the front bumper of the Cruise. Another Cruise blew through caution tape and hit downed Muni trolley power lines. It does not look good.

Read more at Forbes.com in Cruise Cars Crash Into San Francisco Muni Bus And Tangle In Fallen Trolley Wires

Today, Waymo released an extension of their previous safety frameworks where they promote what they call a "Case Credibility Assessment" — a way of examining whether any safety case is strong and should be believed. It's a complex situation, but the larger question is just who these safety cases are for, and how they will interpret them. In particular, what will regulators do?

Read more at Forbes.com in Waymo Makes A New Safety Case And Challenges All To Also Do So - But Is It Right?

Here's the new Podcast issue. Michael Sena has been writing the newsletter "The Dispatcher" for 10 years commenting on future transportation issues. He's much more skeptical about robotaxis and BEVs than I am, which makes a discussion much more engaging.

Tesla’s “Investor Day” caused much disappointment — even tanking Tesla stock — because there was no big announcement as expected, notably of their new low-cost, next generation vehicle. However, they actually let out a number of important details abut the vehicle, most of what you need to know — other than when you will be able to buy it. I calculate the list price of the new car will be around $26,000 -- under $14,000 with rebates in some states.

Read more at Forbes.com in Tesla Did Introduce The Model 2 This Week At $26,000, But Kept It Quiet

Tesla has done their investor day. No big announcements but tons of detail. About 20 minutes after it ends (it's still going at 4:50pm) Mario Herger and I will do a live post-show stream looking at highlights of the program.