Imagine a taxi that can’t operate in the rain. That is what Tesla has delivered in Austin TX.

These riders learned that the hard way, but don’t have anything particularly negative to say about it… That’s the advantage of only making a Robotaxi service available to hand-picked Tesla influencers.

  • DominusOfMegadeus
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    12 days ago

    Something is very wrong in this universe since Elon Musk continues to earn more and more money.

    EDIT: Because he doesn’t have enough! And can’t think of anything fucking better to do with his time!

  • @Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2512 days ago

    For anyone wondering waymos (Google driverless cars) handle rain just fine as far as I’ve seen, and they have service in Austin. Idk why you would ever choose to take a tesla taxi.

    • @P00ptart@lemmy.world
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      412 days ago

      I have as much of a chance in the trunk of a mob owned Chevy celebrity as I do in a Tesla. At least I can try to talk the mob down.

    • @protist@mander.xyz
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      12 days ago

      Google (Waymo) already has an entire fleet of autonomous vehicles available for hire in Austin and many other cities. Amazon (Zoox) has been testing on the roads in Austin for over a year now. Both have thus far seemed to be doing really well from a safety perspective. But then again, like VW, they’re using lidar and can see through rain, fog, and night.

      From a business perspective, Google and Amazon have diverse revenue streams and the deepest pockets imaginable, and will crush Tesla, whose only other sources of revenue are actively drying up.

  • 4grams
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    11 days ago

    This shit is so bonkers stupid it’s broken my brain. Who fucking cares about driverless cabs, who hasn’t been on a theme park ride in the last 10 years and hasn’t seen driverless cars coming. Big fucking deal, was the world screaming for more cabs? What is materially is better about a cab ride with someone sitting in the passenger seat, vs. the drivers seat?

    I get its innovation, and inevitable, so who fucking cares about the hype. Why do these fuckers care about the aesthetics of their cab ride? IMHO, without a driver, I want to see a fucking ectomobile of sensors, that would be beauty to me, being able to see the shit that’s keeping me safe.

    Ugh, everything is so goddamned stupid, we have become so goddamned easy to impress. Fine, we can have all the future shit that the movies promised, but what will it actually do, what will it actually solve?

    A robotaxi solves ONE issue, the cost of paying a driver. That is not something that impacts me, so who fucking cares. I like having a stranger to talk to while I ride, nice getting some new perspective.

    • @lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world
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      011 days ago

      I totally agree.

      Remember when the price of groceries came down because of all the self-checkouts? Like, are his taxis going to be significantly cheaper than other providers? If not, why would I use them?

      I really think the investors who are like “Tesla shares are worth $450 each because of robotaxis” really haven’t thought this one through. A driverless taxi is only better for the Taxi company. The experience for the user is worse in every way. If you want to charge the same as a regular taxi, your service has to be better. Who is going to help me with my luggage? Uh oh, storm clouds. I guess I will WALK IN THE RAIN.

      I know there are some real idiots out there, but let’s break down the characteristics of a Tesla robotaxi customer:

      • must be stupid
      • must like walking in bad weather / getting stranded in random locations
      • must like paying more for less
      • must be ok with nazis

      I’m no stock analyst, but I am confident in my $0.00 valuation of Tesla shares.

      • @MangoCats@feddit.it
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        011 days ago

        are his taxis going to be significantly cheaper than other providers? If not, why would I use them?

        I had that one taxi driver in Philadelphia who took me on a 40 minute tour of the city for a 6 minute hop from my hotel to the place I needed to be. Running red lights, making wild lane changes across traffic… he was an anomaly, but one you don’t quickly forget. Then there are the taxi drivers from SFO to downtown San Francisco doing 80-85 in their clapped out 680,000 mile Caprices. The fact that there aren’t crumpled yellow Caprices lining the sides of the expressway is small comfort as you bounce along on completely dysfunctional shock absorbers flying after every pothole - occasional sparks flying on the touchdowns. I’ve taken that ride a half dozen times across a span of 20 years, it’s always been like that for me.

        • @lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world
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          011 days ago

          Yeah, at least the Teslas are new (right now). I haven’t had the same experience with shoddy cabs, but i am in a different part of the world. I can see the appeal of being in a newer, cleaner vehicle.

        • KayLeadfootOP
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          011 days ago

          They currently charge a flat rate of $4.20 per ride :|

          Not joking. Is real. Will be replaced by a real number, they’ll probably ease their way up to Uber pricing to reinforce that they are the “cheap” option, and then jack up the price (just like Uber did)

          • @lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world
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            011 days ago

            I gotta admit, under 5 bucks is a pretty good deal and definitely cheaper than i expected. i can’t imagine they’re profitable at that price, though.

            • @Lucelu2@lemmy.zip
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              111 days ago

              remember how cheap it was to have food delivered during the shutdown with DoorDash etc ?