https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSVHQigxJVE
In 2021, Tesla engineers tried to convince Musk not to give up on radar for its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving effort. The automaker decided to remove its front-facing radar and ultrasonic sensors. An approach called "Tesla Vision ” where the automaker believed that the best way to achieve self-driving is through cameras.
Some Tesla engineers were aghast. Without radar, Teslas would be susceptible to basic perception errors if the cameras were obscured by raindrops or bright sunlight, problems that could lead to crashes.
Musk was unconvinced and overruled his engineers. Soon after, the company began disabling radar and the result was an uptick in crashes, near misses and other embarrassing mistakes by Teslas without the critical sensors.
Later, Tesla introduced a new radar sensor, a better version of the previous radar, but not by much. Given its narrow field of view and it's placement behind the bumpers as before, the new radar can better detect objects in front of the car, but it has no idea whether the car's path intersects with the objects, or if the road takes a turn before that.
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Musk's dream of a fully autonomous car might be a moot point now, given the current Tesla shambles.
- Cybertrucks were federally recalled for multiple safety violations, the latest fiasco involving faulty panel glue.
- The sales of new Teslas have plummeted, here and abroad.
- Musk doesn't believe in market research or focus groups. He just builds what HE thinks people will love.
- Consumers are shifting to better & more affordable EVs like Volkswagen's ID.4 (factory in Tennessee) & BYD (made in China).
- Cybertrucks are becoming uninsurable. U.S. insurance companies stopped writing policies on them.
- There's a mounting effort at Tesla to force Musk out as CEO.
Unless something drastic happens soon, Tesla could go bankrupt by the end of summer.
Musk should have read a page or two from Bob DeLorean's book on the pitfalls of stainless steel.
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