The question of what you want the technology to accomplish is completely separate from what the technology can accomplish. Driving in snow or being able to handle East Coast drivers is a problem where, as far as I can tell, not a lot of progress has been made in the last decade.
Hope all you want but I am extremely skeptical that any manu…
The question of what you want the technology to accomplish is completely separate from what the technology can accomplish. Driving in snow or being able to handle East Coast drivers is a problem where, as far as I can tell, not a lot of progress has been made in the last decade.
Hope all you want but I am extremely skeptical that any manufacturer is going to try to sell a car that can only be driven in some parts of the country some of the time.
I don't even know what you mean by "being able to handle East Coast drivers". Why would you expect the same progress that finally allowed full autonomous driving in SF NOT to help with that?
(SF traffic can be just as congested as anywhere else. California drivers do TEND to be more polite but that's a difference in degree, not in kind - and you can't drive in SF without being able to handle SOME tough merges, narrow lanes and obnoxious drivers!)
People sell vehicles *all the time* that you can only use in some parts of the country. Segways are illegal in some towns, electric scooters illegal in others. Motorcycles or jet-skis are only practical in certain weather, road, or water conditions. Some mopeds and electric bikes can't go on the highway due to being underpowered to reach higher speeds. Let's not let the best be the enemy of the good!
A potential solution isn't really a solution until it's put into practice.
Merging onto the BQE is a well known issue for self driving cars because the East Coast is notorious for aggressive driving practices, to the point where said self driving cars give up even trying.
The problem with self driving cars that can't be used everywhere is the human machine interface. Who wants to be woken up from a deep slumber when your car starts screaming "I'm doing 75 on the highway and I can't handle it! You take over!!!"
The question of what you want the technology to accomplish is completely separate from what the technology can accomplish. Driving in snow or being able to handle East Coast drivers is a problem where, as far as I can tell, not a lot of progress has been made in the last decade.
Hope all you want but I am extremely skeptical that any manufacturer is going to try to sell a car that can only be driven in some parts of the country some of the time.
The tech I referred to just above would seem to constitute significant progress for driving in snow. Um, here:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a31098296/autonomous-cars-snow-mit-researchers-solution/
I don't even know what you mean by "being able to handle East Coast drivers". Why would you expect the same progress that finally allowed full autonomous driving in SF NOT to help with that?
(SF traffic can be just as congested as anywhere else. California drivers do TEND to be more polite but that's a difference in degree, not in kind - and you can't drive in SF without being able to handle SOME tough merges, narrow lanes and obnoxious drivers!)
People sell vehicles *all the time* that you can only use in some parts of the country. Segways are illegal in some towns, electric scooters illegal in others. Motorcycles or jet-skis are only practical in certain weather, road, or water conditions. Some mopeds and electric bikes can't go on the highway due to being underpowered to reach higher speeds. Let's not let the best be the enemy of the good!
A potential solution isn't really a solution until it's put into practice.
Merging onto the BQE is a well known issue for self driving cars because the East Coast is notorious for aggressive driving practices, to the point where said self driving cars give up even trying.
The problem with self driving cars that can't be used everywhere is the human machine interface. Who wants to be woken up from a deep slumber when your car starts screaming "I'm doing 75 on the highway and I can't handle it! You take over!!!"