brad's blog
The Argument Over Whether Tesla FSD Will Run Over A Child Or Dummy Child Misses The Point
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2022-08-25 15:10There has been lots of buzz over a video made by Tesla Critic Dan O'Dowd of a Tesla allegedly in FSD mode hitting a dummy in the shape of a child. We've seen Tesla fans duplicate it with their own kids, and Tesla asking the original video be taken down, and NHTSA saying not to use your own kids and more.
But it all misses the point. Of course a prototype fails in ways like this. The question is, are people actually getting hurt, and how do we really test these things to get them working? Is it OK to have customers participate in testing?
Baidu starts paid robotaxi service in China
Submitted by brad on Sun, 2022-08-07 21:42Baidu has finally moved to having a paid robotaxi service with no employee in the car. While they have remote monitoring and even driving over 5G this is still a big step and a show of internal confidence in the vehicle.
Read more at Baidu starts paid robotaxi service in China
Are Software-Limited Features Like BMW Heated Seats Or Tesla Limited Batteries Good For The Customer?
Submitted by brad on Fri, 2022-07-29 14:23Two recent stories -- about BMW charging a monthly fee to use the heated seats pre-installed in your car, and Tesla replacing a 60kwh battery with a 90kwh under warranty, but forgetting to software limit it to 60kwh, then finally applying the limit after two resales of the car as an (unknowingly accidental) 90 model, have opened up cans of worms about the question of software enabled and disabled features, and whether they are good or bad for the customer or just good for the company.
Custom Robotaxi from Baidu
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2022-07-20 21:06Baidu Apollo has released their own custom robotaxi plan. This one looks more like a regular minivan/custom taxi, but its steering wheel, there only for compliance purposes, is designed to be removed when the law allows, and that opens up the interior. They also say they can make it for about $37,000.
For more details see my Forbes.com story at Custom Robotaxi from Baidu
Timeline of lost luggage at Heathrow
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2022-07-12 10:33For my story of this summer's airport chaos, I describe a nightmare at Heathrow with luggage lost by Lufthansa. The main story on Forbes.com is about what airlines could be doing better when overloaded, but this sudebar will outline a timeline of all the things going wrong.
Cruise Robotaxis are failing in groups in SF
Submitted by brad on Fri, 2022-07-08 14:21Several instances have taken place where multiple Cruise robotaxis have all frozen as a group, sometimes blocking intersections.
I discuss reasons for that, and why it's not that big a deal, in this new article on the Forbes site.
All you need for a great EV road trip
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2022-06-28 08:41I have written a guide of useful hints and tricks for doing an EV road trip and barely spending any time charging. I've done over 10,000 miles of EV road trips and you can to, once you get an EV.
Read this at Forbes.com:
All you need for a great EV road trip
I have two other articles on Forbes.com that I didn't publish here in the blog:
Intentional communities in European towns in decline
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2022-06-08 10:00You may have seen news coverage of various towns (mostly in Italy) that are selling houses for one Euro. There are even web sites to search for them.
This happens because many small towns face migration of their population to big cities. As population drops, houses get abandoned. These can become a blight on the city, possibly worsening its decline. To stop this, the cities seize the houses and give them away -- with some big catches.
Towing a trailer with an F150 Lightning cuts range in half, but that's not the only change
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2022-06-01 08:45Now that we can get good EVs, people are moving to SUVs and trucks, as they did with gasoline. It's better than gasoline of course, and cheaper, but there is a hidden cost in needing all that extra energy, beyond extra cost.
Read about that at Towing a trailer with an F150 Lightning cuts range in half, but that's not the only change
Breaking Banks/Futurist Podcast on Keens and Stewards, Exploiting brain bugs and more
Submitted by brad on Sat, 2022-05-28 10:46I recently did an episode of the Breaking Banks/Futurist Podcast. We go over many topics, and I hope you will like it all, but in particular I delve into two topics I have yet to complete my writings on. The first is my model of the great tribal war between the Keens (future-loving, more secular, liberal) and the Stewards (Past defending, less secular) which the Keens will win but are being dicks about.
Cruise Robotaxi delays SFFD fire truck
Submitted by brad on Fri, 2022-05-27 14:36San Francisco Fire complained that a Cruise robotaxi delayed a fire truck (but by less than 25 seconds) when it was stuck behind a stopped garbage truck, and the Cruise couldn't pull over in the oncoming lane enough.
Read the Forbes.com story at Cruise Robotaxi delays SFFD fire truck
EV charging prices are all over the map, how should they price it
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2022-05-25 09:59Travel around and you will find EV pricing anywhere from free, to up to 60 cents/kwh, or sometimes by the minute, with session fees, flat fees, idle fees and more.
The problem is that unlike gasoline, electrical energy isn't the product. It's charging that is the service with a bit of product. How does it make sense to price it?
Read more on Forbes.com at EV charging prices are all over the map, how should they price it
Michigan wants a smart highway on I-94. A dumb highway is better
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2022-05-23 10:25A recent big announcement says the Cavnue consortium and Michigant will build a "Connected Autonomous Vehicle" corridor on I-94 outside Detroit. It's the classic "smart road" which special infrastructure and cars communicating with it.
But is it that smart, or is a dumb highway smarter in the end?
I outline the reasons in this Forbes site article at Michigan wants a smart highway on I-94. A dumb highway is better
EV maintenance is really cheap, but the dark secret is the tires
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2022-05-02 10:33I just did my annual maintenance on my Tesla -- adding wiper fluid and putting air in the tires. That's really it. But last year it was different. I had to replace my tires after only 29,000 miles, in part because I mistakenly never rotated them. But there's more to it than just that mistake, so the tires remain a special source of higher maintenance cost you need to worry about.
What must robotaxis do to make people give up car ownership?
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2022-04-26 01:40For the robotaxi business to be worth it, they must get customers who give up car ownership because of the service, and use it regularly. But since robotaxis will have a limited service area, what will they do to make it happen?
I discuss various strategies, including partnering with competitors and linking services areas in a new Forbes site column at What must robotaxis do to make people give up car ownership?
Tesla teases a Robotaxi, are they crazy to give up off-lease plan?
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2022-04-21 12:54Elon Musk has now teased that Tesla will build its own custom robotaxi, at low cost. This is at odds with their brilliant plan to turn off-lease Teslas into robotaxis, letting somebody else eat up 40% of the depreciation. Will they do both, or do they have a new plan up their sleeve for a small one-person pod?
Read about this in my new Forbes.com story at Tesla teases a Robotaxi, are they crazy to give up off-lease plan?
I wish internet providers sold backup service
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2022-04-19 13:49Comcast has been having a lot of outages this month. Since, like many, internet is vital to work and many things in the home, I would like to be able to have two internet providers, and fail over to the 2nd one when the first is out. I don't want to just have to pay double to have this -- I want to pay the backup provider much less because I am almost never using them. I want to pay them if I use them a lot, and better still I want my 1st provider to pay them if the 1st provider goes out.
A fantastic gas station is not a great EV charging location
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2022-04-18 11:21In my article last week, I outlined how Texas issued grants to build EV charging almost entirely at gas stations, including a chain of mega gas-stations known as Buc-ee's. Buc-ee's may be a great place for gas, but to understand why it may not be right for charging, you have to understand that for gas cars, gas stations are a destination where you get gasoline, and it is nice if they have amenities. For charging to work in its ideal way, you want to have destinations you were going to stop at anyway, which have charging as an amenity, so charging can take nothing from your day.
Tesla’s Texas Charger Grant Applications Fail; It’s Bad For Texas But Reveals Tesla’s Super-Low Costs
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2022-04-14 10:40I went digging in the numbers behind the Texas grants to pay 70% of the cost of installing Fast charging. All the grants went to gas stations (terrible places to spend 40 minutes) and Tesla's applications for its first stations which charge non-Tesla cars (required by grant) didn't make the cut -- even though they came in at only 1/5th of the price per charger of most of the other applications. In this new article, I discuss the issues around this -- what does it mean for Tesla to open up stations, why is Tesla so ridiculously cheaper, why did Texas make such bad choices and more.