Autonomous Vehicles

[WOM]

I've always assumed that the thing that will change travel distance of electric cars is when batteries become removable: if there are "filling stations" where you pop in, and the battery is automatically popped out, and a fresh one popped in, in the same time that it takes to put 15 gallons of petrol in your car now, then the question of how long it takes to charge is removed and the question of range is basically removed. Of course, that requires some sort of universal standard, which will be a pain in the arse to get to.

Interestingly, the four major Japanese motorcycle makers filed a joint patent a few months ago for a universal replaceable battery cell. So that's the direction they're thinking in. When they hit the e-bike market, they'll hit it hard. And not asking $29,000 for the bike like HD.

[ursus arctos]

It wouldn't surprise me if they are anticipating legislation requiring standardisation in their home market and/or the EU

[andrew7610]

Autonomous vehicles in a closed environment are nearer than you think - at the airport I work at, we're testing right now with a view to having all air-side traffic as autonomous in the next few years. I have an air-side driving licence, and giving way in my little van for an aircraft to trundle right past (never mind an Airbus A380) will never be anything less than absolutely fucking terrifying due the potential risk one slight mistake on my part carries. It can't come soon enough in this environment, frankly.

Prior to this job, I worked at a car plant and the factory floor has little automated trolleys running all around the place delivering components to the correct part of the production line in a highly efficient manner. The only manually driven vehicles (other than the completed products rolling off the line) were fork lifts unloading pallets of kit from delivery trucks - which whilst a highly skilled job, is at risk of being automated soon too.

[WOM]

Yeah, I'm amazed that Hyster or someone hasn't invented the forklift equivalent of the Roomba for unloading trucks. A fleet of three or four of them could unload a truck and warehouse its contents in a half hour.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yeah, I'm amazed that Hyster or someone hasn't invented the forklift equivalent of the Roomba for unloading trucks. A fleet of three or four of them could unload a truck and warehouse its contents in a half hour.

Anything like our Roomba they'd drive around the warehouse three times before getting stuck under pile of palettes in a location where only a winch could reach them.

[WOM]

I saw an ad for one of Roomba's competitors where they mock its willy-nilly cleaning pattern in favour of their more predictable / superior grid-search pattern.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Indeed. And even if mandated to run at reduced speeds, will still be able to run 24/7 and even load and unload automatically.

As for EVs, it's incredible how few parts are in them compared to IC engines. Hell, the transmission alone has hundreds of niggly little parts that will no longer need to be made, assembled, lubricated, repaired, etc.

And the Ridgeline is a thing of beauty. The first edition...not this new thing.

I'm sure that the original model was as elegant and unobtrusive. as this two parking spaces wide, two parking spaces long beauty that I saw in my local supermarket.

[WOM]

That's just an ugly-ass F150. Ford sells one million of them a year.

Wait...what country is that in?

[ursus arctos]

The one in which TAB lives, of course

[caja-dglh]

That is Ireland. That is where TAB lives, hence it being his local supermarket.

F-150s and Cadilac Escalade long-wheel bases look insane in Europe. They show how out of scale North American cars are.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

[caja-dglh]

I would note -as has been observed by others - the idea that pickups are all driven by functionality is nowhere near the truth. Unless the functionality in question is to move some paving slabs from Home Depot once every ten years.

Also some might be surprised how much is spent on these trucks. The amount of Ford Raptors, King Cobras and other super lux pickups you see about the way is crazy. Many people seem to spend more on a car payment than on housing.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Except the fully automated assembly line never happened, including at Tesla. It will happen at some point in the future, but we're not there yet.

Lorry drivers will be the first to lose their jobs. The first autonomous vehicles (whenever they arrive) will be trucks on the motorways.

Oh I wasn't trying to suggest that the Fully automated assembly line was here. And a lot of the nightmares that they had building the model 3 apparently came down to them trying to automate bits that weren't appropriate for automation, like the cabling. But the two things that they are aiming for, is to reduce the number of parts they have to assemble, (which means a shorter production line for each vehicle) and then designing more and more of the car for automated assembly. which means that the assembly line runs a lot faster. The model 3 still had over 10,000 parts, and 1500 metres of cabling, the next model has considerably fewer parts, and only 100 metres of cabling that a robot can install. That truck has even fewer parts, and an even shorter assembly line. So you can see the direction that this is moving in.

And it's not good for any car company that isn't already doing this sort of thing.

Truck drivers and delivery drivers are of course fucked, but the damage to the car industry is going to start long before self driving trucks get on the road.

And I know that most pick up trucks are proud statements that you are a real murican, which is why some of them cost $90k, but there are a fucking massive number of these vehicles, but that still leaves an awful lot of trucks sold every year for other reasons. People who might have been tempted to buy it for practical reasons, or lower running costs are often going to be put off from buying it because it would make them stand out as different, rather than standing out as being just the same as everyone else.

[WOM]

The amount of Ford Raptors, King Cobras and other super lux pickups you see about the way is crazy. Many people seem to spend more on a car payment than on housing.

Ford.ca has the Raptor starting at $76,000 and the Limited at $83,000. The bargain-basement, stripped-down, you'd-never-actually-find-one XL starts at $31,000.

[WOM]

That is Ireland. That is where TAB lives, hence it being his local supermarket.

Yes, well that line of copy was edited in after I read it.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

That's just an ugly-ass F150. Ford sells one million of them a year.

Wait...what country is that in?

I spoke to the owner to get his permission to take pictures of it. He had to specially import it, and I like to think that I managed to conceal the various unhelpful emotions I was feeling at the time, and managed to feign genuine interest. The Two SUV's to the right of this vehicle are considered large, oversized vehicles on irish roads.

And when I manage to figure out how to upload the video of someone spending over a minute reversing a lambourghini around a petrol station in salthill, trying to avoid getting a €20,000 crack on his bumper I will. It took so long that I ran out of patience and had to pause filming him, so I missed the look of hatred on the fiftysomething year old's face as he drove past me, for standing there filming him making an utter cunt of himself. Oh how he made that engine roar as he pulled out of the garage, and pottered off down the salthill prom.

[caja-dglh]

Yes, well that line of copy was edited in after I read it.

Ach. There is a store called JOYCES and Euro registration plates from TAB. You aren't getting off that easy.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

There are plenty of women with the name Joyce in Canada, indeed there's one in cabinet, and there are plenty of people with the surname joyce there too. Tim Horton's was essentially owned and run by a man called joyce.and tim Horton's is Canada's version of Guinness. How is he supposed to recognise the licence plates, or nineteen nineties, Irish builder's architectural style.

The Sky was the giveaway.

[WOM]

Gentlemen...it was really just a simple question.

[ursus arctos]

If I posted a similar photo of half a dozen vehicles with BC plates would you have asked what province it was from?

We expect you to notice things automotive. It is part of your brand.

[WOM]

To these eyes, that's just a generic Euro plate. I don't know what's what by country.

[ursus arctos]

You've let the side down, son

[anton pulisov]

I'm sure that the original model was as elegant and unobtrusive. as this two parking spaces wide, two parking spaces long beauty that I saw in my local supermarket.

That's a compact car in Texas.

[WOM]

I can't even imagine what it would cost to gas / diesel that baby up. It's a super duty with dually rear wheels, crew cab and a long bed.

[ursus arctos]

That's why you are the car guy and I am the licence plate guy