Abstract:
No wonder Tesla Cybercab dares
No steering wheel
. It turns out that Tesla has been hiding something behind its back for a long time, and there is actually another set hidden in the car
"Backup steering wheel"
, it's just in the central control screen.
Moreover, this function was accidentally discovered by the passenger. The passenger even tried dialing it twice to see if he could actually drive the car away:
Fortunately, the car didn't move.
How should I put it? Cybercab has been really busy these two days, but there are also so many troubles...
Tesla Cybercab was revealed to have a built-in virtual joystick
Recently, some passengers discovered some "strange things" while riding on the Tesla Cybercab.
Originally, the display screen was supposed to show a ride interface to remind passengers to fasten their seat belts and start their journey:
But when the passenger entered the vehicle, he found that the central screen presented an interface with different configurations, showing several camera images, but the one that attracted him the most
The square virtual control area in the lower left corner
：
There is one in the middle of this area
Joystick logo
, the upper part shows forward, the lower part shows reverse, and the surrounding areas of the joystick are still retained
Braking, horn and door control
Wait button.
According to foreign media statistics, at least two passengers have encountered a similar interface.
Several passengers tried to operate this virtual control system, but the vehicle did not respond. It seemed that there was a bug in the internal testing system.
Currently, Tesla has not publicly explained why the internal interface appears in front of ordinary passengers.
Judging from the existing videos, this set of functions is very likely
Employee permissions required
, primarily intended for testing, maintenance and fleet operations personnel.
In fact, this feature had already been discovered by netizens before Cybercab officially solicited customers.
On August 30, a Cybercab tested automatic parking at an Austin Supercharger station. As a result, it parked a little off and the charging cable was out of reach.
This netizen photographed that the staff in the car directly called up the manual driving interface on the screen, drove the car out of the parking space, and then backed it in again.
So, Cybercab actually
It is not that there are no functions such as steering wheel and pedals
, but Tesla put these functions into it
Software
medium.
After all, without a driver, the vehicle may still face malfunctions, accidents, or the temporary inability of autonomous driving to work, and a low-frequency manual operation mechanism needs to be left.
This is even more in line with the idea of Cybercab's entire vehicle: all long-term hardware that can be eliminated is eliminated, leaving only a software entrance for manual operations that rarely occur.
Some foreign media have suggested that this interface may also be used by law enforcement officers or emergency rescue personnel in the future, for example, if a Cybercab that has lost its autonomous driving capability needs to be removed from the middle of the road.
From this perspective, Cybercab is indeed gradually getting on the right track... but troubles in the real world are also coming one after another.
After one week on the streets, Cybercab began to "encounter" the real world
Tesla Cybercab has been officially put into operation for nearly a week, and it is still very popular. Many netizens have shared their travel experiences.
Many people have discovered that Tesla has repeatedly emphasized before
Low cost
, it has been initially reflected in real orders.
After Cybercab opened for ride-hailing, a passenger also inquired about the same itinerary to a well-known bar in Austin, USA:
Model Y Robotaxi quotation
$12.10
, Cybercab only
$7.77
, about 35% cheaper.
The actual riding experience has not caused much trouble so far.
A reporter from the American car magazine MotorTrend ordered Cybercab five times in about 24 hours.
He believes that Cybercab’s ride-hailing method is different from the online ride-hailing giant
Uber, Lyft
It's very close.
The butterfly wing door can automatically open when the vehicle approaches, and the driving process is quiet and smooth. On the way, another vehicle suddenly cut in, and the Cybercab stopped by itself to avoid it.
However, after Cybercab continued to operate for a few days, there seemed to be some price fluctuations. Especially in
Demand rises over weekend
At that time, some passengers discovered that the dynamic price of Cybercab began to increase significantly.
Current user screenshots show that the estimated waiting time for Cybercab was close to that at the same time
1 hour
, the price even exceeds Model Y Robotaxi and Uber.
△
Left, middle, and right are Cybercab, Model Y, and Uber respectively. Image source: Reddit user u/tmmoo
MotorTrend reporters' five actual rides also reflected price fluctuations. They ran a total of 11.5 miles and spent $33.72, an average of
$2.93/mile
(about 12.22 yuan/km).
However, three of them were short distances of less than 2 miles, and the starting price significantly raised the average; the longest order of 6.2 miles charged US$11.44, which is approximately US$1.85/mile.
Silvio Brugada, head of Tesla Cybercab vehicle software, has also made it clear that it will be passed
Dynamic pricing
Balancing supply and demand, as the number of Cybercabs increases, waiting times and average prices will continue to decrease.
In other words, Cybercab’s current scale cannot support stable low prices for the time being, and the fleet is still in the process of balancing costs.
At the same time, Tesla also encountered a lot of troubles during actual operations.
For example, some passers-by deliberately "bullied" autonomous vehicles and deliberately ran in front of Cybercab to block cars.
After the car stopped, he walked away; the Cybercab started again, and he rushed in front of the car; the car braked again, and he repeated it again... Finally, the Cybercab simply turned on its double flashes and stopped on the road.
Judging from the vehicle's response, Cybercab recognized the pedestrian and stopped in time, without any collision. But the scene raised another kind of question:
Ordinary drivers can honk their horns, communicate, or deal with the situation according to the situation on the spot when encountering someone deliberately blocking the road. However, unmanned vehicles can only act in accordance with established safety strategies.
This may lead to road participants taking advantage of this set of rules to make it more difficult for autonomous vehicle operations. In fact, similar scenarios have troubled self-driving fleets such as Waymo before.
But for Tesla, bigger troubles lie ahead.
The day after Cybercab began commercial operations, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA
Officially launches investigation
, involving up to about 1,000 vehicles.
Here is some background. The U.S. automobile regulatory system itself allows car companies to self-certify. Car companies do not need to submit each new car to NHTSA for approval before obtaining a marketing license.
But Cybercab is special, this car is connected
Steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal and traditional rearview mirror
All have been cancelled, but many current motor vehicle safety standards in the United States still revolve around
Human-driven vehicles
Develop.
Although in June this year, NHTSA has proposed to modify relevant regulations, including canceling the requirement that autonomous vehicles must be equipped with manual brake pedals, the relevant adjustments have not yet been completed, so the current standards are still implemented.
In fact, there is another way to obtain marketing authorization
Apply for exemption
.
Under the current system, NHTSA can approve each manufacturer annually
Up to 2500 vehicles
Vehicles without traditional manual controls are on the road. In July this year, Amazon’s self-driving company
Zoox
, and obtained a limited commercial deployment license through this path.
However, Tesla has not applied for a similar exemption for Cybercab before, but chose to proceed directly
Compliance self-certification
.
Therefore, the core of NHTSA’s current investigation is what technical data and judgment Tesla relied on to determine that Cybercab complies with relevant federal safety standards, or that some of the standards do not apply to Cybercab.
It can only be said that Cybercab has not yet been judged to have violated regulations by regulatory agencies. However, if Tesla wants to expand its fleet to hundreds, thousands or even larger vehicles, regulatory issues will obviously be difficult to bypass.
One More Thing
After expressing their praise for Cybercab, many people also began to find fault with Cybercab.
The one who gets the most complaints
Seat
.
Many people said that the two Cybercab seats look thick, but the actual backrests are relatively flat.
Lack of lumbar support
; On roads with poor pavement, vehicles will also experience significant bumps.
The good news is that Tesla has begun to collect opinions and is open to the outside world
First batch of passengers survey
.
The questionnaire requires passengers to rate items such as vehicle availability, waiting time, doors, screens, apps, seat comfort, space, ride experience, cleanliness and trunk.
The questionnaire also set up the question "What do you most want to add to the next version of Cybercab?" You can choose up to three items, and the alternative answers include:
Heated seats, ventilated seats, fully flat seats, folding tray table, wireless charging for mobile phones, better audio, and more storage space.
This is interesting. In order to keep costs as low as possible, Cybercab deliberately eliminated a large number of traditional passenger car configurations, including the second row of seats.
But now it seems that after all, passenger experience comes first, and some things really cannot be reduced.
Some people may ask, when can we see this golden Cybercab?
Don't worry, Cybercab is already here today
Hong Kong
The first stop of the Asian tour is on, and it is estimated that everyone will be able to see it soon~
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