I can sort of see the vision, even if the execution is sus. A car designed as “self driving first” provides a chance to reconsider interior design. I figure we’ll know self-driving has arrived when there’s a keg mounted between the front seats, or maybe the front seats swivel 360 degrees if the “driver” no longer has to keep an eye on the road.
I could see offering a different workflow for “emergency move the car out of traffic”, like a plug-in override console limited to 5km/h or something.
Comparable: they used to make railway locomotives designed without a full cab, since they were usually sold in sets with another loco with a full cab. You could decouple them and they had a minimal control stand just useful to nudge them around, but you wouldn’t want to out one up front.
A car designed as “self driving first” provides a chance to reconsider interior design
Problem here is that you would have to be willing to recreate about 60 years of car safety development before you do that. Tesla clearly won’t, so they shouldn’t mess with the safest we’ve managed to create.
The steering wheel and column aren’t necessarily better for safety, you can set up the driver’s side the same way you’d do the passenger side and this will actually give a passenger more room and reduce lower limb intrusion (and thus better survival) during a collision.
I don’t trust Tesla not to fuck all of this up of course, but the steering column used to be the deadliest part of a car until shockingly recently. If you’re old enough to vote or drink in any country, you’re older than safe steering columns being a common feature of brand-new cars.
He just keeps making a shittier version of a car and complete with no gas pedal his rabid fanbase are like “bold! innovative! disruptive!”
I can sort of see the vision, even if the execution is sus. A car designed as “self driving first” provides a chance to reconsider interior design. I figure we’ll know self-driving has arrived when there’s a keg mounted between the front seats, or maybe the front seats swivel 360 degrees if the “driver” no longer has to keep an eye on the road.
I could see offering a different workflow for “emergency move the car out of traffic”, like a plug-in override console limited to 5km/h or something.
Comparable: they used to make railway locomotives designed without a full cab, since they were usually sold in sets with another loco with a full cab. You could decouple them and they had a minimal control stand just useful to nudge them around, but you wouldn’t want to out one up front.
I think the vision should be “fuck cars, build rail everywhere”. Self-driving cars are still cars and still need to fuck off.
Problem here is that you would have to be willing to recreate about 60 years of car safety development before you do that. Tesla clearly won’t, so they shouldn’t mess with the safest we’ve managed to create.
The steering wheel and column aren’t necessarily better for safety, you can set up the driver’s side the same way you’d do the passenger side and this will actually give a passenger more room and reduce lower limb intrusion (and thus better survival) during a collision.
I don’t trust Tesla not to fuck all of this up of course, but the steering column used to be the deadliest part of a car until shockingly recently. If you’re old enough to vote or drink in any country, you’re older than safe steering columns being a common feature of brand-new cars.