Cubic Telecom’s Post

Electronic doors keep popping up as a safety problem. Tesla supporters point out that there are manual releases inside the vehicles (which have serious issues for usability in an emergency, and aren't there in the back seats of all models. See: https://lnkd.in/gCRFUvwb). But for this one an adult buckles a toddler into the back. Closes the door. And immediately finds the front door won't open because the vehicle is dead. Kid trapped inside. Firefighters smashed the window. (This is summer in Arizona -- waiting for the workaround that apparently involves a battery charger is not a great idea. And what if the electronics had failed instead of just a battery issue?) The article points out that other car makers have a key for the trunk that accesses a manual door release lever. It is long past time for Tesla to up their safety game on their emergency egress features. https://lnkd.in/g-rpXkS6

My daughter is only 6 years old, and the thought of her driving one day already has me on edge. I'd absolutely love this feature! 🚗 Tesla's New Parental Controls: 'Night Curfew' & Speed Limiters 🔹 Safety Features: Tesla plans a software update introducing features like a 'Night Curfew' and speed limiters to help parents monitor their teens' driving. 🔹 Control & Security: A PIN-based system will secure these settings, preventing drivers from disabling the limits. Additional safety features will also ensure collision warnings and emergency braking remain active. 🔹 Benefits for Owners: Ideal for any Tesla owner lending out their car, enhancing vehicle security. 📈 Tesla Shares: Recently closed at $252.94, reflecting steady investor confidence. Excited for safer roads and more secure driving experiences for families! 🚘👨👩👧 #Tesla #safety #driving

Automotive technology continues to advance across the entire industry. Electronic door releases are one part of that wave and, in some cases, can increase safety. At the same time, they pose a significant danger to young ones when the battery of the car in question dies. One Tesla owner in Arizona just found that out while narrowly avoiding catastrophe. Renee Sanchez was about to take her 20-month-old granddaughter to the Phoenix Zoo. After safely strapping her into her car seat, Sanchez went to get into her Tesla but then realized the EV was dead. Her granddaughter was now trapped inside of the car with no way to easily get out. Tesla, and most other automakers with electronic door releases, have manual releases that owners can use from inside the cabin. At the same time, several owners don’t know about the manual releases that come on vehicles with electronic door latches. At times, they even panic before learning that all they had to do to get out was to pull a manual lever inches from their own hand. In addition, those manual releases don’t help if the only person in the car is a toddler or infant as was the case for Sanchez. Understanding the severity of the situation, she called 911. When the fire department arrived, they told her that they couldn’t get into the car. As reported by AZ Family, she gave them the go-ahead to break in at all costs. Sure enough, they had to smash a window to retrieve the child as quickly as possible. Notably, Tesla does have a procedure to get into the car but it requires several steps and a battery charger. Interestingly, this sort of situation isn’t a Tesla-centric one. Plenty of modern cars, including gas-powered ones like the most recent versions of the Chevrolet Corvette. The lesson here then is clear. Those who own vehicles with an electronic door release need to know how to get into them efficiently should the battery die. If they don’t, a trapped child could be at serious risk depending on the circumstances. #ev #electriccar #tesla #battery #children

The race to have an #AutonomousCar is increasingly complex, due to the amount of money that has been invested to meet the objectives. Within that process, at the end of February, #Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has decided to stop trying to make a car and is dissolving the project team of 1,500 to 2,000 people. The reason, it seems, is that #Apple hopes that the development of #AIG can generate more profits more quickly. From 100% of the staff. about half of them are interface and autonomous driving software engineers and are being moved to the #AI team. Many of the rest could well be fired. The #Apple car project, known internally as Project #Titan, began around 2014. High-profile recruiting was done in either direction to and from #Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), #Ford (NYSE: F), #VW Group (ETR : VOW3) and others. #Apple aimed to present a luxury #AutonomousDriving machine. Reports from 2021 said the goal was to launch this year and with #Level4 #Autonomy, meaning fully #Autonomous driving almost everywhere. But just a few weeks ago it emerged that the release date had been pushed back to 2028 and the technology was downgraded to #Level2, which is what is now common in many #Cars. On several occasions, #Apple management discussed manufacturing projects with #Hyundai (KRX: 005380) and #Magna (NYSE: MGA), which makes vehicles for #Mercedes (ETR: MBG), #BMW (ETR: BMW), among others. During those years, there was a widespread opinion that #Apple probably could have developed and released a car with an #AutonomousDriving standard equal to any other. This is because #Apple has so much R&D money to spend and so many huge brains at its disposal. The prospect of #Apple, one of the richest companies in the world, launching an #Apple-branded car had the potential to transform the auto industry and was being watched closely by #Automotive executives and fans alike. from Apple. Despite the anticipation, analysts said #Apple was still many years away from launching its own car. The company's engineers have been testing #Apple car technology on public roads for years. At one point, #Apple tried to build a car without a steering wheel or pedals. But he abandoned the idea as it was not possible with current technology. #Apple never publicly revealed that it was developing an #Autonomous Vehicle, but analysts expected the company to price it around $100,000. It was seen as a possible rival to Tesla's #ElectricCars models in the same price range. The decision to cancel the project comes at a time when major #Automakers are re-evaluating their investments in #ElectricVehicles and amid increased scrutiny over #AutonomousVehicles projects. https://lnkd.in/eEQ4Fi2e

Once again I am both frustrated and disappointed with the headlining here by apnews.com - THIS IS ANTI-EV FEAR MONGERING. What is happening here is not a "recall." It is a software update being done remotely. An Over the Air (OTA) Firmware update. This process is one of the BEST things about owning a Tesla. But on to the news itself - I think it makes sense for Tesla to pull back functionality that is being mis-used by end users and putting pedestrians in danger. Should they change the name of "auto pilot" to something less all inclusive? Sure. Are they allow to have a "naughty list" and pull functionality from drivers who are not using it safely? More debatable but at first blush seems reasonable. Certainly understandable. Either way - let's not make the public think there is something wrong with these vehicles. The tech evolves. These cars evolve - even after you buy them. It's amazing and exciting and should be celebrated. #evadoption #teslamotors #evs #greenliving #electricvehiclesarethefuture https://lnkd.in/e7ZfV3BR

Apple pulls plug on electric car project after decade-long effort: … effort to build an electric car, according to people … from shifting to all-electric vehicles. General Motors and Ford … industry are slashing battery-electric car prices, production targets and … ’s decision to abandon electric cars and shift resources towards … #car #cars #awesome

Is the Tesla 3 year FSD + Connectivity + Supercharging really a deal at $5k?? It depends how much you drive, and you'd really have to want an S or X. "The new deal applies only to the Model S and Model X, not the more popular Model Y and Model 3, which are the more affordable Tesla options. This has led some to speculate that the bundle may be an attempt to boost sales of the more expensive S and X." There's no denying that the Tesla Model S and X are getting very long in the tooth. They're not quite 70 series LandCruiser old, but they ain't young at 10 and 12 years old respectively. Even with the constant updates, there's newer, sexier product out there for this money. The thing is, despite price reductions, they still ain't a cheap piece of kit. So, as the quote suggests, this is less about discounting FSD, and more about offering incentives for S and X. (Personally, I think at $US8k, FSD is still FAR to expensive for most people.) For a high mileage driver, the deal is very good. You'll easily get that value in Supercharging alone, and FSD is a very nice bonus. In fact, I really liked the highway FSD performance when we had it on our Model 3 back in April (less so around town though). In fact, for those operating a limo business, this is a very good deal indeed. For low mileage drivers who don't get the use out of the Supercharger and FSD, it's not as tempting, but probably still worthwhile. But, again, you'd have to want an S or X. If this deal was available on the 3/Y, Tesla would be swamped with new orders. Do you think $5,000 for the 3 year FSD / Supercharging/ Connectivity package is a good deal? Does it make a Model S or X more desirable? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below #automotive #batteries #climatechange #electricvehicles #innovation #sustainability #cleanenergy #renewableenergy More here https://lnkd.in/gqREMSgb

"The technician’s summary: “Front wheel fell off while driving on Autopilot at 60 mph,” referring to Tesla’s automated driving system" This is pure propaganda! Legacy car makers have to send a recovery truck and bring the car to a workshop, but with Tesla a new front wheel can be downloaded with an OTA update. I'm being sarcastic, of course, but it's worth reading that report in detail: some absolutely shocking things in it. https://lnkd.in/e3W66UBq

Tesla’s latest massive recall is a weird one. It’s not about reported problems with sudden braking, airbags, driver monitoring alerts, or even seat belts. Nope, this one is all about font size. It turns out that the font size for Tesla’s brake warning system is a bit too small. How small? Smaller than 3.2 millimeters, or one-eighth of an inch, as prescribed by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). So the company has to recall all 2.19 million vehicles it has on the road today. As per usual, this is not a recall in the traditional sense. Tesla says it will push out an over-the-air software update to correct the font size. At least they didn’t use Comic Sans.

After three months or so, I finally got the latest update to the "Full Self-Driving" package an hour ago. I decided to take it on a test drive, the same route it did so poorly earlier today, albeit at night with much less traffic. Many believe that the first few trips after a software update actually perform worse, and I wanna say I've observed that as well. But still, I was eager to test version 11.4.9. The self-driving car still does not respect "No turn on red" signs. It's a mystery to me why this takes Tesla so long to implement. Later, I arrived at that tricky spot where a road is coming in from the right to merge with my road at an angle where the car keeps thinking erroneously that that road's stop sign is meant for us. It still gets that wrong, oh well. A mile down the road I felt like it did a better job of handling lane switching, but that will need more testing. Coming back home after the short trip, it then did a TERRIBLE job at the roundabout near our house. It entered it at a far too high speed, which caused it to hit the brakes and almost hit the curb - at least that is how it felt. It had to make an abrupt correction, which all felt highly unnatural. Quite disappointing I have to say. Let's see how future rides in daylight go. I shall keep you all posted :-) ------------------------- A protocol of #myBetaRides (my car driving me with its 8 cameras and the #FSDBeta system onboard). Possible ratings: PERFECT, FINE, POOR, DANGEROUS ------------------------- Wednesday, 12/20/2023, 8:15 PM Melrose - Melrose, 5.6 miles Visibility: High Light condition: Dark Rain: None Setup: 11.4.9 on HW4 Rating: POOR Critical Disengagements: 1 Non-critical Disengagements: 1 Interventions: 1 Spreadsheet with all rides: https://lnkd.in/euxd5cem