GM and Cruise announce first mass-production self-driving car | Hacker News Reader

GM and Cruise announce first mass-production self-driving car

techcrunch.com

39 pointskbyatnal18 comments

> "when the software’s ready"

Ummmmmm...

So, what I really got out of the article, is GM and Cruise are now where Tesla has been for a little while, in that 1. They can install sensors on the assembly line that they think will enable level 5 autonomy and 2. They have a way to remotely update autonomy software on the cars.

The key statement being "sensors [...] that they think will enable level 5 autonomy." One or both of GM and Tesla could easily be wrong about that.

But you're completely right... it's like saying my Macbook is the world's first strong/general AI, once the software's ready.

Fine print: software will be ready in 2050.

"when the software is ready" - every failed project ever.

This was discussed here [0] in more detail (and from the original source) earlier today.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15220760

One of the more interesting parts to me:

> "...but [Vogt] added that these are destined for deployment in fleets, rather than as individually owned consumer vehicles."

I think this really clarifies the direction that GM (and I believe other auto manufacturers) see as the way forward: moving from an individual-ownership model to an on-demand rent model.

Strategically this gets really obvious when you look at the financial model. A rapidly depreciating asset that has utilization of <10% is kind of insane, but Americans have managed to pull it off. Many families even have 2 of them! You need wide open spaces, no public transit, and cheap power for them to even be financially feasible/desirable, and the automotive industry has had to work really hard to kill public transit, the country has had to go to war several times for cheap power, and as people migrate from rural to urban settings the wide open spaces have been replaced with commutes from hell.

Cars are probably going the way of planes in the future -- hobbyists will operate them, wealthy people will have luxury models, and most people will just buy time in one. Self-driving technology is the nail in the coffin but it's probably happening without that.

Insane for whom? Regardless of rate of depreciation it's still an asset. The relentless drive to push everything to rental transfers value from individuals (as equity) to industry/corporations in the form of operating profit. There's a reason why much of the economy is moving this way and it isn't beneficial to the vast majority of us.

Cars intended for fleets might also mean they can afford to put expensive LIDARs on them. Fleets can afford to pay 100K+ per car whereas most individuals can't.

I'd go buy a Bolt right now if it had the autopilot a Tesla has. They are readily available, relatively inexpensive, and can travel nearly 300 miles on a charge. Try and find a Model3 right now!

East coast checking in. The Chevy dealers here are stuck in their rut: they try to avoid the B word, talk you out of it if you ask for one, and basically stonewall. It's hard to get a test drive despite them sitting on MT car of the year.

I'm not sure what's their motivation.

Let me see: the regulatory environment is in flux and not quite ready for autonomous vehicles; GM can claim an early lead for being to mass produce these vehicles - so who are the first customers - ride sharing companies and cities - and when is the first shipment / big contract expected? (I haven't done more research yet!; so I'm curious what other HNers know or think.)

Almost certainly not (American) cities. With Uber de-fanged, I'm not sure which competitor has the capital and sense of urgency to go to battle for self-driving cars. My guess is a foreign city-state, e.g. Singapore or Luxembourg.

One minor point: Luxembourg the country has a city called Luxembourg inside it. Luxembourg the country isn't a city state, though. It has other cities/towns/villages.

Interesting. Do you know of any previous publicly expressed interest by either (or any!) of those cities?

What is the definition of mass-production?

"Lots"

Things to not put your body into.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com