GM's Plan For Self-Driving Cars Sounds Incredibly Bleak
General Motors has laid down a pretty bleak plan for its first self-driving cars, pretty much in direct opposition to the Tesla business model.
The giant American corporation’s CEO, Mary Barra, has said that its first fully self-driving cars will have “speed limitations” and won’t be able to operate outside pre-set geographical boundaries, while new Tesla models will optionally come with all the necessary hardware for full automation – even if owners can’t use it yet.
According to Fortune in the US, the General Motors vision for self-driving cars starts in a “controlled ride-sharing environment.” The firm has recently invested $500 million in on-demand ride service Lyft, with the intention of adding autonomous cars to the fleet. GM is also launching its own car-sharing service, called Maven. But either way, you can keep your filthy human hands off the controls, buddy.
Customers won’t even be able to buy the self-driving GMs. As well as being restricted on the road, the cars will only be leased by those early-adopters who prefer their autonomous cars slow and undemanding, as opposed to those who like them to hit 60mph in 2.7 seconds. In the wet.
Tesla boss Elon Musk has previously been quoted as saying his approach to ‘driverless’ cars is actually the responsible way to do it – he argues that increasing automation as quickly as possible will save more lives.
What’s your stance on GM’s approach to self-driving cars? Has Mary Barra got it right or wrong?
Comments
The Musk is RIGHT
I think the concept of a robotic chauffeur is cool and very safe but autonomous cars are going to be killing an art, driving.
Of course it won’t kill motorsport. Didn’t see horse racing being killed when everyone started driving cars instead of riding horses for transport 😂
Go home GM your Drunk
I think they’re dangerous, what happens when a super computer develops a mind of its own? It’s going to take over autonomous cars and add guns on them to take down humanity
Actually, I prefer the GM version. Because the only case I’d have an autonomous car is that I’ll get too old and weak to drive, so I don’t really want to pay for one.
The development of automated cars is unstoppable, so for us driving enthusiasts the more exciting, faster version is better, obviously. This is like comparing Trump and Clinton: having to choose the lesser “evil”
This article is poorly written. Autonomous cars won’t have an option for 0-60 in 2.7 seconds. More than likely, all autonomous vehicles will be set to follow a certain speed and acceleration limit.
Whenever my kid says he likes the future of self-driving cars, I think of when I first drove a Miata then loved it, remember how great and fun it was, be sad I didn’t rent or buy it, and then want to smash my head into the pavement.
So GM wants to make self-driving cars, but no-one can buy them for themselves… GM logic at it’s finest.
Did you not read the part about the Uber like company they are making? They essentially want to start an autonomous taxi fleet.
I think GM and Ford have got the right idea. Autonomous cars should start out in well-mapped areas (cities) and act like taxis. This way, you wouldn’t have to drive a mile away to park. Plus, it could open the opportunity to remove some unneeded parking space and put more useful things in.
It looks more like GM ispreparing for experimentation. I don’t think that will be their final business plan; it looks rather a safe way to test their technology in public roads while raising necessary research funds. Compared to what tesla is doing, this sounds more responsible.
EV all over again.
This article just spews Tesla fanboyism.
All we hear is how GM’s autonomous cars are self-driving, and therefore slow and restricted in the way they drive. WELL DUH. AUTONOMOUS CARS ARE SUPPOSED TO DRIVE AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE. Not a single mention of how Tesla autonomous cars will drive like. Instead, we get some apples to oranges comparison of how a P100 D can do 0-60 in 2.7 seconds. I will bet you 1 million dollars that a Tesla in autonomous mode WILL NOT go 0-60 anywhere close to 2.7 seconds.
Slow day at the CT office I see.
And not owning an autonomous car makes sense. It’s literally like a taxi, but without getting ripped of by a money hungry driver. It’s two different approaches, both which Elon would approve of,
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