What Does Tesla's Automated Truck Mean for Truckers?

Wired | November 17, 2017 | Aarian Marshal

[dila813]

It only has a 500 mile range, I can see this truck only useful to sit it traffic and clog up the roads in urban cities. The urban truck driver is expensive and costs a lot for all the time sitting in traffic.

A human would choose to not head out in traffic that was clogged, a robot won’t care.

The big question is the capital cost, is it capital efficient to have an expensive asset idle so much rather than having a human.

I expect another issue is backing the trailer up, will there have to be special loading docks, is it smart enough to queue up in distribution yards etc..

[Fresh Wind]

Why wouldn’t the limit be changed in that case?

Speed limits are as much about revenue as they are about safety.

[Moonman62]

So you’re saying automated cars will be bad for revenue.

[GOPJ]

With the batteries required for these ‘haulers’, it will take about 2 megawatts of power to accomplish that feat.

The average home in the USA uses 1 megawatt per month. Musk intends to suck 2 months worth of energy for one household in 30 minutes for 1 truck. In that 30 minutes 1 truck will place the same load on the grid as that of 1400 households. Imagine 10 or 20 trucks at the same station at the same time.

Who is going to pay for the grid upgrade necessary for this massive load on said grid? Musk? You?

What about isolated places? This may work for short hauls...... maybe...

Excellent... excellent questions.

[KC_for_Freedom]

It goes even farther back than that. The old question, would you stop at a stop sign in the desert where you could see for a mile in every direction and knew that there were no other vehicles to form the old compact of right of way?

I don’t know. The idea of coming to a full and complete stop is ingrained but so is the idea that the coast is clearly clear and so a rolling stop would be safe enough.

I agree with you that it is part of not losing momentum, which I learned on a bicycle is very hard to regain once it is lost completely.

[KC_for_Freedom]

I agree, hence my worry. however our human drivers have plenty of “bugs” that have not been corrected. They are starting to add auto braking for example for an improvement.

This is why the lawyers are watching this very carefully, how juicy the next opportunity to have Google or some other very deep pockets in court.

[yadent]

‘Solvable problems get solved’...very true. However, who is going to pay for this particular solution? Musk, who by his own words LOSES money on EVERY unit he sells? The only way the guy survives is via the bond market and TAXPAYER subsidies. Or you, the taxpayer, who is/has been keeping Musk in the game? The answer is obvious........

[minnesota_bound]

40 tons rolling down the road with no driver. Some kid in the backseat of a car playing with his xbox and somehow takes over the control of the truck.....

[minnesota_bound]

#7 Some examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp21EJpMtZQ

[editor-surveyor]

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Tesla is a major disaster in the making, that needs specific action to avert.
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[editor-surveyor]

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Anyone with a linear amp on their CB radio can scramble the processor on any “autonomous” vehicle.

Buy one today! (radio, not autonomous highway bomb)
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[catnipman]

“Some examples”

I’ve always been in awe of those guys (and gals)!

[ctdonath2]

Musk would be doling the same without taxpayer subsidies: he uses them because they’re there, for the businesses he’s engaged in - would be stupid to pass up $billions of assistance, especially as he PAYS IT ALL BACK WITH MORE.

Unlike Solyndra etc, he’s creating a viable large scale business - a costly endeavor full of risk. So far he’s successful, and taxpayers are actually benefiting.

I agree that the gov’t shouldn’t be subsidizing businesses in general. Sometimes, however, it works out well - which it is with Tesla.

[yadent]

Without the subsidies Tesla would be out of business. They are burning thru cash like there is no tomorrow, the tax subsidies aren’t enough. Hence, Tesla’s continual ‘visits’ to the bond market. It’s highly unlikely the bond market would continue throwing funds at the company without the governmet’s/taxpayers backing of said money-losing company. The company has not turned a profit minus those taxpayer provided ‘gifts’’ since it’s inception. Again, Tesla LOSES money on EVERY unit they sell minus those subsidies.....by Musk’s own words. And that scenario has not changed. Finally, who is going to pay for the massive energy grid upgrade required to fuel those super trucks? Musk?....or you? Tesla’s history says it’s us. As for Tesla’s future, let’s see how it fares when those taxpayer ‘gifts’ supposedly end next year.....

[Bones75]

All these new self-driving vehicles, I think the technology is pretty cool and all, but that being said, there is *no way* I am giving up control of my car. I want to be the person in control, I like driving. Some of the people I work with say they’d love it. “I can just drink my coffee and read the news on the way” etc.

Good luck with that, I’ll keep my hands on the wheel.

I’ve also read that the self-driving cars drive extremely conservatively, they don’t speed, and as far as I know they don’t even turn right on red. Also, they apparently have a huge problem with make a left turn across traffic.

I’m not looking forward to driving around with a bunch of these on the road.