HN Explorer

Ask HN: Do you want an self-driving car?

7 points by Errorcod3 ↗ HN
One benefit is the cheaper insurance, and it will free up time to/from work to pursue a hobby, get some work done, or even take a nap!

https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/automotive-consumer-insight-revolution-drivers-seat-road-autonomous-vehicles/

14 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 46.1 ms ] thread
mercnet
I want a self-driving car for long distance drives like for a vacation and if I am too tired. However, I also enjoy driving a sports car with a manual transmission on back country roads.
Errorcod3
Only stops to fuel/bathroom, never have to worry about stopping at a hotel to sleep! Never thought of that.

*edit: still defiantly need that weekend / fun driver.

yellowapple
Hell, if highways could have built-in charging strips (that would charge your car as you drove over them (assuming your car is electric)), all you'd need is a built-in watercloset and kitchen/pantry and you'd be all set for a non-stop road trip to anywhere!
toomuchtodo
Yes. Buying a Model S 70D this year, and while not level 4 autonomous, it'll be close enough until I can get Google-level self driving.
Errorcod3
That is awesome. I live in Nebraska, and I finally spotted a Tesla last night! Excited to see it become a successful company, and I've only heard great things about the vehicles and the customer service.
toomuchtodo
> That is awesome. I live in Nebraska, and I finally spotted a Tesla last night! Excited to see it become a successful company, and I've only heard great things about the vehicles and the customer service.

Yes! Absolutely love Tesla because of what they're doing. I'm a shareholder, but that doesn't really help them, but buying/leasing a car from them does.

I'm by no means wealthy, but I plan on leasing it for 3 years and then financing the remainder when the lease is up (effectively creating a 7-10 year financing model). My wife and I share a vehicle, so I'm not paying a terribly high premium for the car after maintenance and gas savings.

I was paying $600 a month for an Infiniti. That was stupid on my part.

jdmoreira
I'm not criticizing or anything. Nothing negative here... I just want you to think that if you have $600 a month for whatever, you are wealthy! I'm am wealthy! Most people in the world don't have that kind of yearly budget man... we need to start thinking about that. We may not be the 1% but we are in the top 5% for sure.
bprager
Have you been driving recently, with all these idiots (excuse my French) on the streets? Of course I would want all of us a self-driving car. We would be so much safer.
AnimalMuppet
Then you want everyone else in a self-driving car, but you may not want one...
furiousjulius
Chea!! The car can be comfort focused over driver focused (I want a small kitchen in mine with wrap around windows). No drunk driving necessary. No expensive parking needed, send it around the block or to a cheap lot further away. You can even make yourself the last pickup in the carpool with your own car!
eaandkw
I can't wait for the moment you have a warrent issued for your arrest that the auto driving car locks the doors and drives to the nearest police station.
yellowapple
I still don't trust a computer's judgement versus my own, so I'm reluctant to jump right into wanting a self-driving car.

Instead, I'd want the transition to be gradual. Maybe start with the self-parking stuff and the automatic lane-changing stuff, then migrate over to more and more automation until it really is self-driving. Even then, I'll probably always want a way to take manual control if necessary.

andars
Yes and no. I really want sophisticated cruise control for driving on the freeway, but for the most part I don't desire it for driving on surface streets. My real dream is that computer-driven cars can help reduce traffic because most slowdowns seem to be caused by human response time and limited senses.