Google Self-Driving Car..

[DrGlueblob]

....Eeeyuck! Guess in ten years we'll be passing these things everywhere..

[Austin T]

I doubt it, It seems like something with to many liabilities for practical day to day use on a massive scale. Imagine all the regulations an constant inspections they would have to go through that would be in a constant situation of changing to improve them, seems like these will fall victim to the same fate as the Amazon drones. A mere glimpse of a possibility, similar to the rocket and nuclear concept cars of the 50's.

[Rob Hall]

I suspect the initial use case once they get past the prototype stage will be in large cities, like bike sharing programs. Sort of an alternative to taxis or car hire services such as Uber or Lyft. Call up one on your phone, punch in your destination (within a specific area), and away you go...

[uncle potts]

sounds like a real bad idea.

[JPS_Lotus]

It's still going to be awhile before one of those self-driving cars is a practical option for the every day roads we commute on.

What I do think is a more practical scenario in the interim, is the prevalence of hybrid and electric vehicles. I can't imagine too many people will be fans of what constitutes as the modern automobile in another 15 years, but who knows. Personally, it will be hard for me to have true passion about the hybrid vehicles that we already see. They're amazing creations no doubt, but there's something soulless even in creations like the McLaren P1. Fast as it may be, it doesn't quite invoke the visceral feeling I get when looking at the McLaren F1. There's something to be said for sitting in a 1969 Camaro Z/28 in comparison to any modern "muscle" car. It might not be as fast, or technologically advanced, but the engaging of the senses is far greater than in many modern cars. It kills me to watch motor sports moving in the direction of economy engines and hybrid systems.

[bbowser]

It's still going to be awhile before one of those self-driving cars is a practical option for the every day roads we commute on.

What I do think is a more practical scenario in the interim, is the prevalence of hybrid and electric vehicles. I can't imagine too many people will be fans of what constitutes as the modern automobile in another 15 years, but who knows. Personally, it will be hard for me to have true passion about the hybrid vehicles that we already see. They're amazing creations no doubt, but there's something soulless even in creations like the McLaren P1. Fast as it may be, it doesn't quite invoke the visceral feeling I get when looking at the McLaren F1. There's something to be said for sitting in a 1969 Camaro Z/28 in comparison to any modern "muscle" car. It might not be as fast, or technologically advanced, but the engaging of the senses is far greater than in many modern cars. It kills me to watch motor sports moving in the direction of economy engines and hybrid systems.

Well said, Dave. But I wonder what our grandparent's said about cars of the '70s? Still, an electric motor will never take the place of pistons exploding noxious fumes!

[Harry P.]

Still, an electric motor will never take the place of pistons exploding noxious fumes!

Yes it will. Sooner than you think.

[bbowser]

I know Harry, but not in my heart!

[slusher]

Yes it will. Sooner than you think.

I think we will see more electric car options to buy in the future..

[martinfan5]

They're amazing creations no doubt, but there's something soulless even in creations like the McLaren P1. Fast as it may be, it doesn't quite invoke the visceral feeling I get when looking at the McLaren F1.

A 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 that produces 727 bhp @7500 rpm , its pretty amazing in my opinion.

Edited May 29, 2014 by martinfan5

[Harry P.]

If we all transitioned into driverless cars, how would that affect the auto insurance industry? Since there would no longer be human drivers, how would fault be assessed in a collision? Who sues who? Or does collision insurance just go away? Who's liable (at fault) for a collision between two driverless cars?

[niteowl7710]

That P1, it's only the fastest car that Motor Trend has ever tested, clocking in excess of 140MPH in the quarter mile. The electric motor is just a small part of the puzzle. Its hardly a Hybrid in the "evil" Prius sort of way.

[martinfan5]

That P1, it's only the fastest car that Motor Trend has ever tested, clocking in excess of 140MPH in the quarter mile. The electric motor is just a small part of the puzzle. Its hardly a Hybrid in the "evil" Prius sort of way.

Dont forgets Porsche's 918 Spyder Hybird that has a 4.6 liter V8 developing 608 horsepower, plus the two electric motors delivering an additional 279 horsepower

And Ferrari's The Ferrari has a 6.3 litre V12 producing 789 bhp and (516 lb.ft) of torque and supplemented by a 163 161 bhp hybrid KERS unit , but that is a different system as it adds to the to combustion engine bringing the total power output to 950 bhp, if this what Hybird technology can do, I am all for it.

As for an on topic reply, I thinks its going to be a good amount of time tell we see self driving cars mainstream

[gbdolfans]

Big Daddy Don Garlits is working on an electric dragster.

It looks like a top fuel car,but,doesn't have the motor.

He is trying to get it to go 200 MPH in the 1000 FT dragstrip.

He tested it recently and I think he got it to about 184 so far.

Electric cars are coming in the future and we have to accept it.

I still love the sounds and smells of NITRO in the morning!!!!

Edited May 29, 2014 by gbdolfans

[Biggie]

Yes it will. Sooner than you think.

X2

I tested a fully electric car a few years ago. Must say I was missing the sound of an engine from the start. Just rolling down the road and not hearing anything but the noise of tires, bahh, it gets boring real soon. I don't like the newest electric cars also. Same story as with my first experience.

About self driving car: A few weeks back I had the chance to experience the newest Mercedes-Benz S500 Intelligent drive that enables so called self driving. Opinion: It was amazing and also feeling really safe on the road. Do not forget these vehicles have different systems for long, medium and short range and they detect other vehicles 360 degrees around / also pedestrians / traffic signs / can follow the road or vehicle in front of you / you name it, etc. etc.

Reaction time is always in miliseconds but then again what will hapen with reliability after 5 / 10 or more years. It can happen sooner of course. FYI: the previous Mercedes S class was already technologicaly so advanced that Google team said it would be easilly transformed into self driving car. "The best or nothing"

[Modelbuilder Mark]

I think you will also see more of this over time. http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml

Solar road panels. There is some cool video on Youtube as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU

They can change all kinds of aspects of the roadway, repairable in segments, very coold stuff.

[Danno]

Driverless cars: Maybe. But how are they with drive-thrus at MickeyD's or Starbuick's?

[ZTony8]

I wonder if a driverless car will blindly follow navigation directions from one of those flawed mapping systems(like some drivers have) and end up in a lake,a ditch,or against a tree?

[Danno]

"Honest, Officer! I haven't had a thing to drink. It's my car that's drunk!"

[Rob Hall]

First thing I thought of with self-driving cars was the Johnny Cab from 'Total Recall'..

[disabled modeler]

First thing I thought of with self-driving cars was the Johnny Cab from 'Total Recall'..

LOL...

[JPS_Lotus]

Well said, Dave. But I wonder what our grandparent's said about cars of the '70s? Still, an electric motor will never take the place of pistons exploding noxious fumes!

Which part of the 70s? Once the government cracked down on emissions, most of the styling and pleasure went out of the American automobile. This is just a personal opinion, but the mid to late 1970s, thru the early 1980s was absolutely painful to look at from an automotive standpoint. Even the so-called performance cars were outright anemic. Who can forget stuff like the 1981 Corvette Stingray with the L-81 V8 producing 190HP? The Stingray though was probably the only nice looking American built car at that time for me.

[Tom Geiger]

I kinda like the idea of being chauffeured to work!

I used to drive the Garden State Parkway to work every day. A very busy road where it would go from cars traveling at 70mph bumper to bumper to stopped dead in a second! And a few minutes later you'd be going 70 again. While the daily drivers were pretty skilled at it, still every friggin day you'd see accidents. The classic rear ender, over and over. Even with skilled drivers, you look away or daydream for one second and bam! So now traffic would stink for the next hour as everyone cranes their necks to see the accident.

Some new cars have braking systems that won't allow you to hit the car in front of you. That should be standard on all cars. It certainly would help the Parkway. Driverless cars never blink or daydream, don't have blind spots and make human errors. And we no doubt will be seeing it in the future.

[Biggie]

And we no doubt will be seeing it in the future.

You are correct Tom. For example: Mercedes-Benz has revealed that the first completely self driving Benzes will be available in 2020/2021 - this means next generation.

This Thursday we tried some more self driving (and lots of other cool stuff) with the new S class. We took a trip from capital city Ljubljana to the coastline; cca 130 km / 81 miles - must say self driving is incredible, but you get a feeling from time to time that the car just might slip off road - must get used to the feeling of beeing chauffeured around by a computer

[Ace-Garageguy]

If we all transitioned into driverless cars, how would that affect the auto insurance industry? Since there would no longer be human drivers, how would fault be assessed in a collision? Who sues who? Or does collision insurance just go away? Who's liable (at fault) for a collision between two driverless cars?

It would most likely require an entire re-think of assessing liability, and would become a legal battle between manufacturers of the software or hardware failure blamed after a thorough investigation of a particular crash scenario.