“Auto pilot” tech is very convenient

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Nov 12, 2021
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I’ve rented a 2022 BMW 7 series for my week long trip to California. I’ve put 900 miles on the car in total. Nearly 500 miles of those miles were put in one day driving from LA area to Hearst Castle and back. On this trip, I’ve used its “active driving assist plus” system
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Using this system made the trip so much, literally, easier. Just keep your hands on the steering wheel and chill. Speed up or slow down by tapping a button on the steering wheel. The computer will steer the barge into tight freeway band, on a tightly packed freeway, between two 18-wheelers, at 85 mph - indistinguishably from a human being. Like perfectly. One can always cancel it like a regular cruise control with a bottom on a steering wheel, execute whatever maneuver one needs to do, and “resume” it with another button press. Made the nearly 8 hour round trip drive that much less fatiguing. Drinking water, looking around, interacting with children, etc — easy and stress free! Definitely not a gimmick or a toy!

On the way back, I clicked up the speed with steering wheel button to 110 mph here and there and the system did not blink.

Driving in a absolutely horrible LA traffic is equally brilliant

I have an 8 year old E class with a last generation of this technology and although it’s identical to this BMW’s system on paper, is actually less precise and more artificial in feeling in practice, and therefore is less trustworthy and awkward to use. The BMW system is perfect. Just keep a hand on a steering wheel and pay some attention, and enjoy 70% less fatigue.
 
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Tesla wants to add "Autopilot " to their semis... that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
 
My wife recently visited my daughter who lives in Phoenix and they used the service of a "pilot-less Uber". (Probably not an Uber company. I don't have all the details. Wife is sleeping and I"m not gonna wake her. :ROFLMAO: ) They took a video of the car driving up, them in the vehicle going down the street and the car leaving after the fare was completed. The car itself was a specially manufacturered Jaguar. The cost of the whole ride was only $5.20, cheaper than if there was a human driving. When my wife and daughter were in the car, that particular ride didn't have any problems. However, a week later, my daughter was riding in one by herself and when people see that there is no driver in the car, they won't give the car the right-of-way. My daughter got a block from her destination, the car was unable to get to the destination, so she called headquarters, got out of the car and walked the remaining distance.
 
I like technology, but hate paying for, well, anything. Does anyone know the break-even point of buying one of these self driving cars as opposed to just paying someone to shuttle you around? Taxi or Uber, I have no idea what cost/mile is, I’m just wondering if, for next couple of years, if it wouldn’t be cheaper to just pay someone else to drive me.

5 to 10 years from now, could be different. Cost of technology tends to come down, or otherwise not match inflation.

Anyhow. Not giving up my car any time soon, which I occasionally use the Braille method for parking (go until I hear a crunching sound, then back up a foot, close enough).
 
I like technology, but hate paying for, well, anything. Does anyone know the break-even point of buying one of these self driving cars as opposed to just paying someone to shuttle you around? Taxi or Uber, I have no idea what cost/mile is, I’m just wondering if, for next couple of years, if it wouldn’t be cheaper to just pay someone else to drive me.

5 to 10 years from now, could be different. Cost of technology tends to come down, or otherwise not match inflation.

Anyhow. Not giving up my car any time soon, which I occasionally use the Braille method for parking (go until I hear a crunching sound, then back up a foot, close enough).

:ROFLMAO:
 
I like technology, but hate paying for, well, anything. Does anyone know the break-even point of buying one of these self driving cars as opposed to just paying someone to shuttle you around? Taxi or Uber, I have no idea what cost/mile is, I’m just wondering if, for next couple of years, if it wouldn’t be cheaper to just pay someone else to drive me.

5 to 10 years from now, could be different. Cost of technology tends to come down, or otherwise not match inflation.

Anyhow. Not giving up my car any time soon, which I occasionally use the Braille method for parking (go until I hear a crunching sound, then back up a foot, close enough).
That was my Mom's style of driving... We're still putting plastic pieces back on her Matrix!
 
This is exactly what the level 2 systems are about - being an assist not replacement for a human.

I have a level 2 system in my ID.4 called Travel Assist and it works beautifully on freeway roadtrips and even on my day to day commute of which 80% is on a limited access freeway. It really takes a lot of burden and work off the driver, during my daily commute I just rest my hand on the bottom of the wheel and my right foot kinda rests on the accelerator with myself ready to intervene. Longer road trips I don't hover my foot over the pedals and will take my hands off the wheel occasionally.

I think folks need to understand these are simply assist systems and you must still remain focused on being the primary operator. This is where the problem lies, people who treat them like a personal driver and they don't need to pay attention.
 
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