Tesla’s Robotaxi Can’t Drive in the Rain, and Dumps Passengers If the Weather Looks Risky.
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(No kidding - Bezos seems to ruin the other things he touches, like Blue Origin and The WaPo, but Zoox is actually making great progress! Probably because Beez isn't a car guy, he's a yacht guy I guess.)
It's because Zoox is operating as an independent subsidiary of Amazon, and Jeff isn't holding the reins any more (though Andy is, in my opinion, a worse leader for the company).
I'm sure that Amazon will slaughter the fatted calf once Zoox fully proves out by operating its intended product, though. Can't let anything good exist when you can claw back that billion dollar investment, not to mention years of a surely massive operating budget.
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That…that’s it? He’s the richest man in the world for fucks sake. Also, they don’t work.
You don't get to be rich by spending all your money.
But yes, that's it. There's also plenty of hubris involved, as well as short-sightedness.
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I totally agree.
Remember when the price of groceries came down because of all the self-checkouts? Like, are his taxis going to be significantly cheaper than other providers? If not, why would I use them?
I really think the investors who are like "Tesla shares are worth $450 each because of robotaxis" really haven't thought this one through. A driverless taxi is only better for the Taxi company. The experience for the user is worse in every way. If you want to charge the same as a regular taxi, your service has to be better. Who is going to help me with my luggage? Uh oh, storm clouds. I guess I will WALK IN THE RAIN.
I know there are some real idiots out there, but let's break down the characteristics of a Tesla robotaxi customer:
- must be stupid
- must like walking in bad weather / getting stranded in random locations
- must like paying more for less
- must be ok with nazis
I'm no stock analyst, but I am confident in my $0.00 valuation of Tesla shares.
Wait, they charge the same as Uber and all that?
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Wait, they charge the same as Uber and all that?
They currently charge a flat rate of $4.20 per ride
Not joking. Is real. Will be replaced by a real number, they'll probably ease their way up to Uber pricing to reinforce that they are the "cheap" option, and then jack up the price (just like Uber did)
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This shit is so bonkers stupid it’s broken my brain. Who fucking cares about driverless cabs, who hasn’t been on a theme park ride in the last 10 years and hasn’t seen driverless cars coming. Big fucking deal, was the world screaming for more cabs? What is materially is better about a cab ride with someone sitting in the passenger seat, vs. the drivers seat?
I get its innovation, and inevitable, so who fucking cares about the hype. Why do these fuckers care about the aesthetics of their cab ride? IMHO, without a driver, I want to see a fucking ectomobile of sensors, that would be beauty to me, being able to see the shit that’s keeping me safe.
Ugh, everything is so goddamned stupid, we have become so goddamned easy to impress. Fine, we can have all the future shit that the movies promised, but what will it actually do, what will it actually solve?
A robotaxi solves ONE issue, the cost of paying a driver. That is not something that impacts me, so who fucking cares. I like having a stranger to talk to while I ride, nice getting some new perspective.
And mind you, that solved cost of the driver will NOT translate to lower fares
It's all about a tiny amount of people again making more money while more people are out of a job
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This shit is so bonkers stupid it’s broken my brain. Who fucking cares about driverless cabs, who hasn’t been on a theme park ride in the last 10 years and hasn’t seen driverless cars coming. Big fucking deal, was the world screaming for more cabs? What is materially is better about a cab ride with someone sitting in the passenger seat, vs. the drivers seat?
I get its innovation, and inevitable, so who fucking cares about the hype. Why do these fuckers care about the aesthetics of their cab ride? IMHO, without a driver, I want to see a fucking ectomobile of sensors, that would be beauty to me, being able to see the shit that’s keeping me safe.
Ugh, everything is so goddamned stupid, we have become so goddamned easy to impress. Fine, we can have all the future shit that the movies promised, but what will it actually do, what will it actually solve?
A robotaxi solves ONE issue, the cost of paying a driver. That is not something that impacts me, so who fucking cares. I like having a stranger to talk to while I ride, nice getting some new perspective.
Can't get raped or killed by a robot driver but sure can by a human one. For that reason alone, I want proper driverless taxis.
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They currently charge a flat rate of $4.20 per ride
Not joking. Is real. Will be replaced by a real number, they'll probably ease their way up to Uber pricing to reinforce that they are the "cheap" option, and then jack up the price (just like Uber did)
I gotta admit, under 5 bucks is a pretty good deal and definitely cheaper than i expected. i can’t imagine they’re profitable at that price, though.
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Can't get raped or killed by a robot driver but sure can by a human one. For that reason alone, I want proper driverless taxis.
When the robot taxi rapes and kills you, nobody will ever catch it.
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Imagine a taxi that can't operate in the rain. That is what Tesla has delivered in Austin TX.
These riders learned that the hard way, but don't have anything particularly negative to say about it... That's the advantage of only making a Robotaxi service available to hand-picked Tesla influencers.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I wonder if anyone actually watched the video...
The car dropped them off at their planned location. They were told service may not be available for the next ride due to weather, but they did get another car in the end anyway. They were forced to exit at the end of the ride as everyone is. Then they got another ride. They weren't dumped.
Edit: Would they be dumped, it's possible, but that's not what happened here.
This was their destination, which they then affirm they chose in the "dumped" portion -> "Unfortunately, we chose basically a park with no cover to be dropped off", and they have text added to the screen "we got to our location via robotaxi, but weather became a concern"
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Can't get raped or killed by a robot driver but sure can by a human one. For that reason alone, I want proper driverless taxis.
You absolutely can be killed by a robot driver.
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I totally agree.
Remember when the price of groceries came down because of all the self-checkouts? Like, are his taxis going to be significantly cheaper than other providers? If not, why would I use them?
I really think the investors who are like "Tesla shares are worth $450 each because of robotaxis" really haven't thought this one through. A driverless taxi is only better for the Taxi company. The experience for the user is worse in every way. If you want to charge the same as a regular taxi, your service has to be better. Who is going to help me with my luggage? Uh oh, storm clouds. I guess I will WALK IN THE RAIN.
I know there are some real idiots out there, but let's break down the characteristics of a Tesla robotaxi customer:
- must be stupid
- must like walking in bad weather / getting stranded in random locations
- must like paying more for less
- must be ok with nazis
I'm no stock analyst, but I am confident in my $0.00 valuation of Tesla shares.
are his taxis going to be significantly cheaper than other providers? If not, why would I use them?
I had that one taxi driver in Philadelphia who took me on a 40 minute tour of the city for a 6 minute hop from my hotel to the place I needed to be. Running red lights, making wild lane changes across traffic... he was an anomaly, but one you don't quickly forget. Then there are the taxi drivers from SFO to downtown San Francisco doing 80-85 in their clapped out 680,000 mile Caprices. The fact that there aren't crumpled yellow Caprices lining the sides of the expressway is small comfort as you bounce along on completely dysfunctional shock absorbers flying after every pothole - occasional sparks flying on the touchdowns. I've taken that ride a half dozen times across a span of 20 years, it's always been like that for me.
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Whatever they charge, you can assume it will be optimized to gain market control (not share) and once they have market control they will begin charging whatever the market will bear.
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I gotta admit, under 5 bucks is a pretty good deal and definitely cheaper than i expected. i can’t imagine they’re profitable at that price, though.
That's a placeholder, meaningless, price.
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Rain in urban areas is only condition where biking (or sometimes walking) is not sufficiently pleasant to get there faster and cheaper. Busy time for taxis.
You've never been in Minneapolis in February? Phoenix in August?
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First thing that should be done... slap a "replacing a worker with a machine" tax, before we even think about having autonomous cars as cabs.
Don't call it a special tax, call it an incentive for industries which pay fair living wages for employees. Everybody pays the same tax rate, but if you employ people the cost of employing those people can be partially rebated to your business (from the taxes it pays.)
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Accretes?
Grafts and extorts?
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are his taxis going to be significantly cheaper than other providers? If not, why would I use them?
I had that one taxi driver in Philadelphia who took me on a 40 minute tour of the city for a 6 minute hop from my hotel to the place I needed to be. Running red lights, making wild lane changes across traffic... he was an anomaly, but one you don't quickly forget. Then there are the taxi drivers from SFO to downtown San Francisco doing 80-85 in their clapped out 680,000 mile Caprices. The fact that there aren't crumpled yellow Caprices lining the sides of the expressway is small comfort as you bounce along on completely dysfunctional shock absorbers flying after every pothole - occasional sparks flying on the touchdowns. I've taken that ride a half dozen times across a span of 20 years, it's always been like that for me.
Yeah, at least the Teslas are new (right now). I haven’t had the same experience with shoddy cabs, but i am in a different part of the world. I can see the appeal of being in a newer, cleaner vehicle.
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Can't get raped or killed by a robot driver but sure can by a human one. For that reason alone, I want proper driverless taxis.
Meh, I’ve taken a lot of cab rides, so far no murder. I’m fine taking my chances.
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I totally agree.
Remember when the price of groceries came down because of all the self-checkouts? Like, are his taxis going to be significantly cheaper than other providers? If not, why would I use them?
I really think the investors who are like "Tesla shares are worth $450 each because of robotaxis" really haven't thought this one through. A driverless taxi is only better for the Taxi company. The experience for the user is worse in every way. If you want to charge the same as a regular taxi, your service has to be better. Who is going to help me with my luggage? Uh oh, storm clouds. I guess I will WALK IN THE RAIN.
I know there are some real idiots out there, but let's break down the characteristics of a Tesla robotaxi customer:
- must be stupid
- must like walking in bad weather / getting stranded in random locations
- must like paying more for less
- must be ok with nazis
I'm no stock analyst, but I am confident in my $0.00 valuation of Tesla shares.
Right. I’m not against driverless taxis, but they are just another thing that does an already solved job. Maybe it will be a wee bit cheaper, maybe not, but at the end of the day, it’s not me, the user or the service, that these things are for. They are for the cab companies to make bigger profits, maybe pass some savings on to us (not likely, in fact I’ll bet a dollar they charge a premium).
I just don’t get why the hype cycle has captured everyone. Woo, a computer can drive a car, neat… I that’s all the reaction it needs.
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are his taxis going to be significantly cheaper than other providers? If not, why would I use them?
I had that one taxi driver in Philadelphia who took me on a 40 minute tour of the city for a 6 minute hop from my hotel to the place I needed to be. Running red lights, making wild lane changes across traffic... he was an anomaly, but one you don't quickly forget. Then there are the taxi drivers from SFO to downtown San Francisco doing 80-85 in their clapped out 680,000 mile Caprices. The fact that there aren't crumpled yellow Caprices lining the sides of the expressway is small comfort as you bounce along on completely dysfunctional shock absorbers flying after every pothole - occasional sparks flying on the touchdowns. I've taken that ride a half dozen times across a span of 20 years, it's always been like that for me.
haha... you don't believe robotaxis won't get enshittified to the point where they take you on the scenic tour to your desintation? Hahaha
