Speaking of regulatory questions,
Future Tense comes out swinging for ElonThe electric carmaker’s approach to autonomous vehicles is far too risky.
Safety and automotive leaders condemned Tesla for exposing its customers—and everyone else who shares the roads—to unnecessary risk. PAVE, a nonprofit providing education about autonomous vehicles, blasted the company for “using untrained consumers to validate beta-level software on public roads,” calling this “dangerous and inconsistent with existing guidance and industry norms.” An association representing truckers warned that “while [FSD] may be a fun experiment for Tesla’s customers, public roads are our members’ workplace.”
Faced with an obvious safety hazard and seemingly false advertising, you might expect federal officials to step in. Nope. Instead, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration promised merely to “monitor the new technology closely.” With an apparent regulatory green light, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that FSD would be available nationwide by the end of this year.
ADAS nevertheless requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road and be ready to turn the steering wheel or apply the brakes if a problem arises. ... That kind of vigilance doesn’t jibe with a term like “Autopilot,” which suggests a vehicle that can operate independently. Indeed, European regulators bluntly concluded that “Tesla’s system name Autopilot is inappropriate as it suggests full automation.” Musk disagrees; he recently called the idea of changing it “idiotic.”
NHTSA should finally launch an investigation into Autopilot and FSD. The central question is whether the pattern of driver misuse of those technologies represents a defect, which could prompt a recall. The principle of “predictable abuse”—outlined in NHTSA guidance issued in 2016—provides a framework for such an investigation
How much do consumers want this stuff vs slap it on as a why-not option?
E.g., BMW has tons of these features - fairly close if not almost exactly like Tesla ... but if they didn't would people care? Is BMW a totally different market? Doesn't seem like it ... lots of people cross-shop BMW and Tesla and lots of people have both ...
Porsche, for example, kinda shies away from all this stuff, though granted Porsche sells fewer cars and may be more niche than Tesla.
Anyway, as someone config'ing a Porsche (I've almost given up on ordering the X5 45e) I can say I'm glad to be able to option it all off, though I would get it on the 45e if I go that route just to try it. My 2015 BMW had it all and I hated it, so my 2018 had none of it and I never missed it. That said, the auto-reverse stuff and the auto-park stuff seems pretty cool - highly unlikely I'd use any of the highway stuff.