Volkswagen exec admits full self-driving cars 'may never happen'

Re:Volkswagen exec admits full self-driving cars 'may never ... by alkonaut on Saturday January 18, 2020 @05:22PM (#22087733)

I don’t mind driving 200 times one hour commuting a year. I want to a) not own a car but be picked up by one I can share with others b) be driven home after having a drink. Both of those use cases are only working if there is a 100% (or close to) self driving solution. Driving 95% of the way or 95% of the trips is nice, but I wouldn’t pay Tesla autopilot money for it.

The value in the 95/95 autopilot is because it will make commercial drivers be able to never need breaks (they sleep or rest until the autopilot is in trouble, and they can even remote control cars). And of course because a lot of people seem to hate driving and would pay to avoid it.

I don’t - I hate owning a car.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Volkswagen exec admits full self-driving cars 'may never ... by IanCal on Saturday January 18, 2020 @05:51PM (#22087950)

The 95% thing can also be very different depending on how it's split up. 5% of miles have a random "you need to take over" vs. the most rural 5% of roads need manual control make a world of difference.

A car that can only drive within major cities in the UK and on motorways would be entirely fine for the vast majority of people. Exceptional journies I can always rent a car that suits my needs for the one week in several years I'm in the Highlands.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Volkswagen exec admits full self-driving cars 'may never ... by spookthesunset on Saturday January 18, 2020 @10:15PM (#22089163)

> Driving 95% of the way or 95% of the trips is nice

People will abuse that. They will get high/drunk/whatever and when that “5%” rolls around (quite unexpectedly mind you), they’ll run into a bus full of nuns. Always assume people will be judgement impaired because “the car can drive itself”....

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Volkswagen exec admits full self-driving cars 'may never ... by alkonaut on Sunday January 19, 2020 @03:34AM (#22090208)

Where the 95% ends can only be a decision the car makes. There can’t be a button you push when you think “come on autopilot you can do it, It’s just a short jump and you’ll fit through that narrow passage in the run-up easily!”. Autonomous cars will give up and stop when they require manual intervention.

But, this is also why I think the next car manufacturer race will be about who can solve this for their customers. That is, who solves the problem of making 95% autonomous cars able to drive in 99.9% if all situations without manual intervention by the driver, where the provides automatic remote control from massive rooms full of people steering drunk car owners out of situations the autopilot couldn’t. The better the autonomy, the fewer people needed to remote override.

[ Parent | on HN ]