There’s a large transformation in the automotive industry taking place. A major player in this would be the pressure on automakers to incorporate digital technology and meet the drastic change of customer expectations. Automakers are revising their customer value proposition in addition to their operating model. A great example is Dodge discontinuing the Charger and Challenger. Cars that have dated back to the 60s and still fairly popular half a century later. Automakers are turning their focus to kilowatts and turning away from the idea of high horsepower sells more. Now the focus turns to recognizing these moves and differentiating from other players in the electric automotive industry. This post focuses specifically on Tesla’s commitment to full self-driving and increasing their level of autonomy. This includes their FSD failures and criticism of the program, the idea of full autonomy, and the future of Tesla.
Criticism of Tesla and it’s failures
Just last night on Super Bowl Sunday, The Dawn Project aired an advertisement claiming Tesla’s FSD will run down a child in a crosswalk, swerve into traffic, hit a baby in a stroller, and more. Their mission is “to make computers safe for humanity” and they were willing to pay nearly $600,000 to continue their smear campaign of full self-driving. Just last year, they took out a full-page ad in the New York Times. The Dawn Project may just be Tesla’s biggest hater. Now we wait for Elon’s response. He’s already called Dan O’Dowd, CEO of Dawn Project, bat sh*t crazy in the past.
In 2015, Elon Musk stated Tesla vehicles would drive themselves in 2 years. Couple of years later and it’s difficult to classify them as fully autonomous. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Capability will run your pockets for $15,000 on top of, at minimum, a $42,000 vehicle. The car will not actually drive itself still without some assistance of the driver. The system is considered to be in beta and any Tesla driver is a beta tester for the company; putting up their own life for the development of Tesla’s FSD system. Keep in mind, if FSD operates improperly and a crash occurs, neither FSD or Tesla take responsibility. Tesla reminds their consumers that they should be aware of the limitations of FSD before purchasing a vehicle. In court filings, Tesla argues that customers agree to an arbitration clause when they order their cars therefore claims should not be tried in public court or in any class action lawsuits. Can you really sell a feature as full self-driving for $15,000 and in reality it’s some self-driving?
Tesla’s version of autonomy
Tesla has a level 2 driving automation, under the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) classification system. This level is titled as partial driving automation. A Tesla cannot drive itself or be operated for an extended amount of time without the driver’s hands off the wheel thanks to full self-driving. Drivers must remain alert and ready to take over in any situation.
As of now, no vehicles are offered with level 3 automation – conditional driving automation. However, last month Mercedes received approval in the state of Nevada for their level 3 autonomy vehicle. The first to bring this level of automated driving to the US. Another broken promise from Elon in 2020, as he claimed they would be near level 5 automation by the end of 2021. This raises the question of is Tesla built on ideas and dreams and if they will ever reach level 5 automation. Has Elon Musk sold consumers something under false pretenses?
The future of Tesla
Currently, the demand for the Model 3 and Y are so high that development of a new model is not needed in the near future. Musk believes FSD can make the company worth a lot. With more than 100,000 customers using FSD, the way they improve it is to continue collecting data from their customers. With the Cybertruck supposedly coming out this year, another vehicle is added into the mix for Tesla. Reminder that production was set to begin in late 2021, then delayed to 2022, then Elon confirms Tesla would not launch any cars in 2022. In 2022, Tesla stock fell by around 70%. It has improved by 77% as of last week and sits at 195.52 at the moment. Will Tesla recover this year? Predictions sit at a high of $430.33 over the next 12 months with the lowest sitting at just $33.33. I believe the future of Tesla is all in the hands of Elon.
In my opinion, Tesla is just another automaker. They’ve led the way in the space of electric vehicles but they will not hold that title forever, if they even have it still. One more car company in the mix. I do not believe Tesla is the future. That Elon idea of building tunnels to remove traffic is bad too and already failed in Las Vegas.