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Tesla Robotaxi Stops Mid-Intersection After Running a Red Light… The Influencer Onboard Calls It “Impressive” (fuelarc.com)

submitted 1 day ago by KayLeadfoot@fedia.io to c/technology@lemmy.world

84 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This Tesla Robotaxi demo video is a mess.

Watch as the car makes a left turn from the wrong lane, ignoring a red light. The safety operator steps in, and the car comes to a stop… right in the middle of the intersection.

Eventually, it completes the illegal turn after blocking traffic for 45 seconds, which raises the question, what exactly is the safety operator there for?

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[–] ShankShill@sh.itjust.works 39 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

Not related to self driving, but other shitty car design.

I had a Nissan with a CVT before it was widely known they were garbage. I hit the brakes to avoid someone that ran a red, and the CVT went in to some protection mode and left me and my family stuck in the middle of the intersection for 2 entire light cycles before it'd move again.

Dealership just kept saying it's fine and it was protecting the CVT from damage after going from throttle to brake quickly. I don't give a fuck about the CVT, I care about the squishy bits inside the cabin.

After it did that again and the power windows stopped working the same day, I traded it in for a Mazda with a proper transmission. 248k miles later it's still great.

[–] Cocopanda@lemmy.world -3 points 4 hours ago

Bud. Nossan always was known as trash. You just didn’t do enough research before buying it. No offense. As a dude with buddies that have The last sports cars from Nissan. 300z turbos. Nissan has been garbage for decades.

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 17 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (4 children)

Damn shame that CVTs are so janky because it's the only non-manual transmission I'd consider. But reliable CVTs that don't do fake shifts are hard to come by.

The eCVT in my wife's Ford C-Max is an absolute dream. It's so smooth and helps the car take off much faster from a stop than my 350Z, despite having 100 less BHP. Nothing beats the feeling you get from immediate torque when you don't have to wait for the revs to build. Problem is that it also has a 75% failure rate after 100K miles. She's at 120K now and it's still going strong, so she was in the lucky 25%.

[–] foo@feddit.uk 6 points 13 hours ago

I had a Honda with a CVT and it was pretty bulletproof. Never skipped a beat.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 5 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

What's the reasoning behind CVTs being the only non-manual transmissions you'd consider?

They lack the nice feel of manuals and the reliability of modern automatics. Have you tried an 8HP or 9G-Tronic? Either one will last you a long time and shift so smooth during relaxed driving that you can't tell it's going through gears.

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago (3 children)

Because the idea of keeping the engine at the ideal rev range regardless of your speed appeals to me. Gears have powerbands, CVTs are always in the sweet spot. How can you do any better than that?

[–] Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world 2 points 45 minutes ago

My wife has a versa with a cvt. You couldn't convince me with 10 gallons of rare whiskey that it's ever in the sweet spot..

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 hours ago

With 8 or 9 speeds, you still never really leave that ideal torque band while driving, no modern engine is so peaky that you're off peak torque after 100 rpm. The rubber banding sounds/feels weird to me too, even though it's not inherently bad.

Turbo cars in particular have very long flat torque curves.

Also, what IS the sweet spot? Just like on an auto, it's software that determines what ratio to use in a CVT. Software is not infallible. Sure they test it, but at the end of the day there's several factors to balance. There is no "ideal".

Seriously. If you're looking for a new car, don't discount them. Research them. They swap the ZF 8HP into monstrous builds now because of its ability to take shit and its ability to put power into the wheels. ZF engineers managed to make it shift better, have more gears, be more fuel efficient… and at the same time, be more reliable AND contain fewer parts than their outgoing 6 speed. The 9G-tronic is just as good if not better, but only available in Mercedes and very few other cars (Nissan 400Z, Astons). I had one and it made my 2 liter 143kW diesel feel faster than my current remapped 3 liter diesel around 200ish kW.

For my next automotive mishap, I'm considering either the ZF or Aisin 8 speed mated to a V8. Haven't tried the newer Aisin box yet, but the 6 speed in my first gen Cayenne S was the most solid part of the car lol. I've got two terrible ideas and one great idea lined up but since the great idea is a Lexus, it means twice the fuel consumption and less comfort than the horrible ideas. The Lexy is also available as a hybrid with CVT and more power but everyone said its the worse car despite being way more expensive than the 8 speed auto non-hybrid

[–] GamingChairModel@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

Gears have powerbands, CVTs are always in the sweet spot.

Isn't that basically true of automatics with 8+ gears, too?

[–] AmbientChaos@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Yeah, that reads like someone who hasn't experienced a nice modern automatic. ZF transmissions are magic, smooth when cruising and then shift hard like a DCT when you push them. Some even work with launch modes and they slip the clutches to eek out that extra performance

Nothing beats a great manual though!

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[–] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 4 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Nissan CVT has had its fair share of bad press, but CVTs in general are good to go, and more specifically, Toyota's CVT is a good piece of gear. I don't doubt your story, but it's got me real curious about what the issue is. I can't imagine a scenario where hard braking somehow disables the car, but I know "safety features" in abundance are a thing.

[–] ShankShill@sh.itjust.works 5 points 17 hours ago

Yeah they apparently ran some scans on the transmission and everything checked out.

The 2nd time I drove straight back to the dealership since I was nearby and they scanned again without shutting the car off and still showed no issue. All I know is it'd act like it was in neutral for about 2 minutes. Then it'd barely creep forward even at 4000 rpm. Going to park and back to drive didn't help. Restarting the car didn't help. After about 10 minutes of slowly getting better, it'd be back to normal.

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 57 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

It didn't just "Run a red light", it downright attempted a left turn in a lane meant to drive straight through. They're just lucky that the incoming traffic was stopped when it happened or they might have been t-boned.

[–] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago

It didn’t “run a red light”. In the video, the lights were green when it entered the intersection.

But yeah, it should not have tried to make that turn from that lane.

[–] cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

How come nobody honk? Are they used to this nonsense already?

[–] HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

What exactly does honking accomplish though?

[–] Wrufieotnak@feddit.org 5 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

While the person honking probably doesn't intend it that way, it gives a warning to others who can't see it yet to be careful, because something unusual is happening.

[–] HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I'll concede that you bring up the point of honking overall, but in the case of this Jonny cab how would honking help?

[–] Lazhward@lemmy.world 9 points 15 hours ago

Waking up the safety operator perhaps.

[–] cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 16 hours ago

I know but in my area people will be pissed and be honking not that I agree but I’m surprised how calm people are with this nonsense of being live beta tester.

[–] Eldritch@piefed.world 140 points 1 day ago (5 children)

If the most relevant way to describe someone is "influencer". Then everyone influenced by them is a moron. They are just a mega moron. It's a safety hazard any of these vehicles are allowed on the road. Let alone, driving autonomously with no actual intelligence on board.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 8 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

It's funny that nobody who follows influencers refers to themselves as an "influencee".

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 3 points 13 hours ago

Sheeple

[–] TomMasz@lemmy.world 69 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Paid shill for deathmobiles.

[–] Eldritch@piefed.world 26 points 1 day ago

IKR? Shades of Ralph Wiggum.

[–] tonytins@pawb.social 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

If the most relevant way to describe someone is “influencer”. Then everyone influenced by them is a moron.

I think Hank Green described it as a term marketers came up with. So, yeah it tracks.

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[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 19 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Thanks to whoever wrote "raises the question" instead of the commonly used yet incorrect "begs the question".

[–] dyc3@lemmy.world 9 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

I'm curious about this distinction. What's the difference between "raises" and "begs"?

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 5 hours ago

"Begging the Question" is a logical fallacy that's completely different than a thing raising a question.

[–] vithigar@lemmy.ca 23 points 21 hours ago

Raising a question means what you think it does. Bringing up a question which is a natural consequence or follow-up to a previously stated point.

The original meaning of begging the question is quite different and is a form of circular argument where the premise of an argument already assumes its conclusion is correct.

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[–] tonytins@pawb.social 69 points 1 day ago (5 children)

That sounds more life threatening than impressive.

[–] rollerbang@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

Impressively life threatening

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 32 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If a death threat doesn't leave an impression, what will?

[–] killea@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Impressive in the most literal sense. Indeed.

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 8 points 16 hours ago

A truck ran over me

It left an impression

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[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 9 points 22 hours ago

Impressive, I have always wanted to die in a car accident thanks Tesla!

[–] markz@suppo.fi 29 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I find it impressive that nobody honked.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Probably because robotaxi is written on the side of it. Clearly a warning to other drivers, to avoid accidents.
It's like having that "learner" sign most countries have on cars for people learning to drive.

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[–] randompasta@lemmy.today 17 points 1 day ago

Beta testing on the public roads is always a good idea. Privatize the profits and socialize the road hazards and deaths.

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