Driverless Cars in 10 years?

[Mark Gambo]

Driverless cars in 10 years

[timeshifter]

Meh.

It's been in R&D for quite a while now... I think I first heard of it three years back, with tests in California that had the cars driving themselves being guided by a strip of magnets embedded in the road itself.

[crptcblade]

Not until the DeLorean can handle 1.21 gigawatts.

[Lord Orwell]

depends on what you want the cars to do. Some can already park themselves. I wouldn't mind some kind of auto-steer (for interstate use only) and a smart-cruise control so i could read a book on long trips.

Besides which General Motors can't even seem to get the cars they make now correctly. I would personally manually drive with my feet if i could double my gas mileage, but that doesn't seem to be a priority for AMERICAN automakers. If i want 40mpg, i have to buy a toyota. And i'm not talking hybrids. Imagine the mileage a hybrid diesel Scion would get. Ford had a prototype diesel in 2000 of a concept 2010 model that got 80mpg. Not surprisingly, GM came forward with their version 2 months later. Difference was theirs only actually got 50mpg and they said "expected 80mpg after motor technology advances... and don't lean on the car you might dent it. The metal is tissue thin".

[RobDog888]

Lexus has had cars that can parallel park for a year now.

[mendhak]

We were supposed to have flying cars and teleportation by now.

[RobDog888]

We do... in the movies

[wossname]

"You aren't seriously considering jumping that ravine are you? Michael, MICHAEL!"

[Mark Gambo]

Theme from Nightrider

[Arrow_Raider]

If it runs software from Microsoft, we'll truly get to experience some wondrous crashes.

[Atheist]

Not until the DeLorean can handle 1.21 gigawatts.

Impossible..! The only thing that can supply us with that kind of power would be a bolt of lighting!

[wossname]

"Is there some problem with the Earth's gravitational field in 1985?"

[Shaggy Hiker]

I think there are plenty of driverless cars on the road already.

[nemaroller]

Yea, but back in the 60's when they dreamed of these things, they couldn't possibly foresee the heavy hand of frivolous litigation. Blame the lawyers.

[nemaroller]

If i want 40mpg, i have to buy a toyota.

Well, since people were buying GM's SUV's to increase the chances of not having a scratch left on their bumper when annihilating people driving in tin can 40mpg toyota's, GM simply didn't have the market there to produce high mileage vehicles.

[Lord Orwell]

well if OPEC and GM were to somehow, oh i don't know... "AGREE" amongst themselves ...
1. Gas prices will be cut so people all buy gas guzzlers.
2. Later prices of gas will skyrocket and said people will have to pay exhorbitant costs, fully making up (and then some!) for any lost profit when gas was 86 cents a gallon.

[RobDog888]

Sure we have driverless cars now, they are all the cars sitting in the driveways not being driven due to the high gas prices.

[BillGeek]

Instead of a car driving itself, I would imagine manufacturers looking for technology to reduce the wear of a car, using alternative fuels, etc...

It doesn't look like the motor industry is concerned about fuel consumption OR the environment, and even less about your pocket when you have to take your car for a service every 10'000 miles or so and charge you three arms and four legs for it!!!

[/rant]

Pretty cool though.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Sure we have driverless cars now, they are all the cars sitting in the driveways not being driven due to the high gas prices.

I've never seen one of these, and don't believe that they exist.

[Lord Orwell]

you only pay an arm and a leg if you go to a dealer!

[BillGeek]

But truth be told: I'd rather want to go to a dealer to have my car serviced than to either attempt it myself, or send it to some mechanic working out of his back yard. Fine, there are a few of them that know what they are doing, but how does one tell which ones you can trust with a machine that basically cost me 4 months of my salary?

[Foxer]

how does one tell which ones you can trust with a machine that basically cost me 4 months of my salary?

Too true.

[RobDog888]

I've never seen one of these, and don't believe that they exist.

I have one in my driveway.

[Lord Orwell]

But truth be told: I'd rather want to go to a dealer to have my car serviced than to either attempt it myself, or send it to some mechanic working out of his back yard. Fine, there are a few of them that know what they are doing, but how does one tell which ones you can trust with a machine that basically cost me 4 months of my salary?

well you could go to a REAL mechanic, not a 8.00/hr one that does nothing but brake jobs all day or oil changes all day and has to have a computer to tell them when the air filter is dirty. My grandfather has been working on cars (and semis) for over 50 years now and can tell by listening to the engine which cylinder isn't firing. Oh, and his labor? $35 an hour. And yes he owns his own business. Dealer labor for inferior service? $80 an hour. My WIFE got suckered in by the "shop" next door to her work to put on a serpentine belt (which takes about 5 minutes). $40 labor. And they didn't bother to tell her that she needs a new Idler pulley. The bearing is going out in it and if i don't get it replaced before it does go out, that means another new belt and probably a radiator because it's likely to send the fan belt through the radiator.
I did a test in Evansville Indiana. I tried to get my car aligned. I went to three places. One told me i needed Ball Joints before i could get it aligned. Another told me 4 tie-rod ends. The 3rd place told me it didn't need an alignment. That's where my dad applied for a job.

[BillGeek]

I agree, you do get good mechanics out there, but how do you tell? People can still charge 40 - 80 bucks an hour worth of labour, though that does not make them one of the best. The only way to find out whether someone is apt to work on a car is through experience, and if I have to put my car on the line - for which I paid a huge wad of cash - to check for experience, I'd rather take it to the dealer, or I'll do it myself if the job is small enough...

Allow me to take a few minutes to explain the problem that I have experienced: When I first baught my car, I took it to the dealer to have it checked out. All perfect. It went to the dealer twice afterwards for regular maintenance and after that I took it to some idiot who has his own garage. Park the car, get out, talk to the fool, pay up... then he jumps in my car and pounds it down 10 meters to where he wants to work on it. That just p***ed me off.

Ever since then, I've been taking my car to the dealer. At least then they won't mess around. They also have a reputation to upkeep.

[Nightwalker83]

If it runs software from Microsoft, we'll truly get to experience some wondrous crashes.

Hooray!

[Valleysboy1978]

Sure we have driverless cars now, they are all the cars sitting in the driveways not being driven due to the high gas prices.

I love it when Americans complain about the high fuel prices....you got it cheap!

Frankly we all know that the big manufacturers have had viable electric cars for many years now but because they have such close ties with the major petroleum producing corporations and nations they will not reveal these technologies until oil has suddenly run out.

[RobDog888]

Well when you take into account that in the USA we drive more and farther then you guys do so we actually spend more total on gas then per gallon.




Ps, @VB change your avatar. It no longer xmas!

[Lord Orwell]

VB i don't know what country you live in, but there are only a couple of countries that pay more per gallon than we do. I am aware that the equivalent cost in england for example is about $5 per gallon. But someone please explain to me why diesel gas (less additives and easier to make) is more expensive than gasoline is?

[RobDog888]

Maybe because of the supply is less then the demand.

[Valleysboy1978]

demand is high for Diesel mostly because of the large number of trucks on the roads

[zaza]

VB i don't know what country you live in, but there are only a couple of countries that pay more per gallon than we do. I am aware that the equivalent cost in england for example is about $5 per gallon. But someone please explain to me why diesel gas (less additives and easier to make) is more expensive than gasoline is?

Close. More like $7.50 for unleaded here now. I suspect diesel is also more expensive because you can drive further on it, so the petrol station is getting paid less often.

[Lord Orwell]

well you would expect then that demand would be less so they would try to encourage you to drive more by lowering prices (thus ensuring competition) and while you're at it, why is it, when a 55 gallon barrel of oil goes up $1.00, gas goes up 20 cents a gallon?

[timeshifter]

VB i don't know what country you live in, but there are only a couple of countries that pay more per gallon than we do. I am aware that the equivalent cost in england for example is about $5 per gallon. But someone please explain to me why diesel gas (less additives and easier to make) is more expensive than gasoline is?

Europe pays per liter. About what we pay per gallon. Simple math. They pay a LOT more than we do.

[RobDog888]

Who cares what the cost per gallon comparison is. If they only drive a mile or two a day in the UK vs 50-100 per day in the US then we use more so our cost for gas is more on a per use basis.

[schoolbusdriver]

First Group pay for the fuel I burn