A Tipping Point in Car Technology

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion) 06/20/2016 at 10:34 • Filed to: Tesla P90D

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I didn’t get a picture of the one I drove... it looked pretty much like this. You all know what one looks like at this point.

Ok. I didn’t actually get a P90D for Father’s Day. I did get a new Weber gas grill; much more of a “traditional” and “three-figure” gift than a new Tesla. But I did get to drive one on Father’s Day, it belonged to a friend.

I was trying to figure out what was the nicest or most powerful or fastest car I had driven prior to this. Perhaps the modified V70R a friend has was the fastest? I mean, I’ve driven a 1995 911, so power-to-weight... yeah still no. Really, nothing was in the same league as this car in terms of outright speed. The quality of the interior, the looks, everything puts this car at the top of my lifetime list so far.

So I’m clearly not an auto journalist and I don’t have a lot to compare this to, except the various plebian cars I’ve driven in my 20 years of driving. What I took away from driving this car was that it really puts technology in the center of the driving experience, rather than trying to enhance the fringes - which seems to be the purpose of lane-keeping, blind-spot monitoring, auto-braking - hell, even ABS or Cruise Control. All those things only nanny you into driving more safely, but they don’t acknowledge that they can be a bit distracting themselves, and they are still no subsititute for an attentive, defensive-driving human. Driving cross-country in college, I remember hour after hour of staring down corridors of pavement, lined on both sides with amazing consistency from coast to coast; endless repetition and uniformity. Did you ever notice that a red reflector starts a guard rail and a green one ends it? I specifically remember thinking, “I’m sure a computer could handle this.” Well, here we are.

We didn’t go on the highway, just a winding 45mph-limit state road, two lane/opposing traffic - a normal back road. Three minutes into the drive, the owner showed me how to put it into self-driving mode, on a corner with opposing traffic coming. I imagine my reaction was like most people, “Wait, let go of the wheel completely? NOW? Really?” Nope, you hesitated too long and it gave you control back. Try again. It was so bizarre and surreal having the car drive itself along this winding road, but it was flawless. It made a few slightly jerky reactions, but nothing worse than a very slighty inattentive driver. I felt much better waiting for a straight with no opposing traffic to activate the self-driving, but once it was in control, it was really in control.

Still, at first I couldn’t let my hands be more than a single inch from the wheel, ready to sieze control back from The Machine at any moment, perhaps fearing it would veer suddenly toward that logging truck and end our collective existence in a whisper-quiet act of poorly-executed Beta code. But in a few more minutes I was totally comfortable because there were just no surprises. It slowed gently as we approached a lesser vehicle. It managed corners and cars stopped on the side of the road appropriately. Soon I was lazily hanging my left arm out the window and navigating the massive control screen with the owner with my right hand, discussing range and charging stations and how the car handled in the corners. I was comforted by the display in the dash showing me what the car could see, as if it was proving to me, “See? I see that car up there. I know where the lines are. I got this.”

All it takes is a quick grab of the wheel, though, and the car is mine again. It is not for the technophobic driver, that’s for sure. I found the controls to be fairly intuitive with literally zero prior instructions, but just quirky enough that it took some fiddling to get things just right. I work in IT so I’m fine with that level of trial-and-error, but someone like my father would spend 30 minutes trying to fully undertand every possible action that could result from touching the controls before making a sinlge action. He’d still be in the driveway mulling things over.

While we sometimes decry the over-reaching technology creeping into our driving experience, taking away our freedom for God’s sake , this car makes be believe we have reached a tipping point. Because it does such a good job of driving itself, you can actually - safely - focus your attention on other things in the car, whether it’s navigating the HVAC controls - which admittedly are pretty simple once you’ve done it once - or picking up a dropped toy for your kid in the back seat. It’s a solution to distracted driving by allowing you the freedom to be fully distracted without risking your life or that of others.

For me, it’s not about giving up control, it’s about having the freedom to put my attention wherever I’d like. On a long highway drive, who hasn’t wished they could avert their gaze from the paved hell passing through their eyes mile after uniform mile? How about staring at the scenery for more than a passing glance? What was that cool car going the other way? You can stare at it. Or how about reading a book to the kids in the back seat? They might not need more technology to survive a long car ride if you could interact with them more.

I may be a die-hard manual loyalist, but that’s fading a bit, and if this is the future of cars, I’m okay with that. I’m okay with letting the car handle the boring parts of driving, and letting me have fun in the twisties when I want to. Oh, did I mention it’s fast? I did literally floor it, once, and wow. I’m okay with that too.

My speed3 is happy > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 10:48

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Great writeup; thanks for sharing. I kinda want a Model 3 now.

Chteelers > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 10:54

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Raises an interesting thought: at what point do we allow the machine to override the driver?

Plenty of accidents are caused by driver error, incapacity or inattention. Presumably, many of those incidents could be averted through emergency intervention of the auto-pilot.

Ash78, voting early and often > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 10:57

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Well I guess that settles the grille issue. Weber!

functionoverfashion > Chteelers 06/20/2016 at 10:59

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That’s another kind of tipping point, and a very interesting question. We already allow cars to stop on their own in certain circumstances... I do hope that there are allowances in this Great Future of ours for turning off such features. Because track day, bro. (or snowy empty parking lots)

Rico > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:00

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When you floored it did you feel that sensation like when you are on a rollercoaster? I loved that feeling in the P85D I test drove. Just an excellent experience overall but it was before the autonomous stuff came out.

functionoverfashion > My speed3 is happy 06/20/2016 at 11:00

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I know, this guy actually ordered a 3 and because he owns an S, he should get it relatively early, and of course offered to sell it to us because he intends to keep the S. It would be absolutely perfect for my wife’s 40-mile (each way) highway commute.

functionoverfashion > Rico 06/20/2016 at 11:03

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Yeah, it was like that, but like a bigger roller coaster than I’ve ever been on. Mind you, that’s not a very high bar. Just as impressive is flooring it at 50. There’s no clunk of driveshafts or transmissions or torque converters or downshifts, it’s just WOOSH now you’re going 90. I mean, hypothetically.

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:03

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I love cars and I love driving, but I am soooo ready to hand the controls over when I’m on the interstate. Those long drives to the in-laws or across the state for a work trip are brutal.

I’m a cheap bastard and I always buy used. But, as you said, this is a tipping point. As soon as I can afford a car with this technology, I’m in.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:04

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They can have my steering wheel when they pry it from my cold dead hand.

Rico > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:07

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I took the test car up to like 113 MPH. Felt like a spaceship and super composed.

functionoverfashion > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 06/20/2016 at 11:18

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I hear ya. But those long highway drives, man. It gets old.

WiscoProud > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:19

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A new Weber gas grill is a pretty nice father's day gift. I've been eyeing them up hard. Especially since I will never be able to justify the Green Egg.

functionoverfashion > Rico 06/20/2016 at 11:20

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Yeah, low CG certainly helps that. And I was thinking, Tesla should integrate that crazy suspension setup that Bose developed a few years back, they demo’d it in a big Lexus at the time. If anyone could do it, I think it would be Tesla - get the battery weight down a bit first perhaps.

functionoverfashion > WiscoProud 06/20/2016 at 11:21

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Hell yeah it was! My wife is pretty awesome. I gather they rarely go on sale, but if they do it’s not until August and it’s subject to what’s leftover at that point.

WiscoProud > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:23

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Depending on the sales, I may pick one up then. I love charcoal, but gas is so much easier when the weather is bad.

functionoverfashion > luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! 06/20/2016 at 11:29

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Yep. This would be perfect for my wife’s 40-mile (each way) highway commute. We’ll have to wait a few years to get one on the used market, but I won’t hesitate when the opportunity comes. Hell, when the Model 3 comes out, we’ll have some good data on the S and maybe a used S would be a better buy at that point. Proximity to a service center is our biggest hurdle. 120 miles one way.

functionoverfashion > WiscoProud 06/20/2016 at 11:32

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gas is so much easier when the weather is bad. pretty much all the time.

I’m usually chasing both kids around (~2 and ~4) while trying to cook dinner. With the charcoal grill, it’s challenging to say the least. The gas grill makes it possible. I am pretty loyal to the charcoal - I also use wood to start the fire, not lighter fluid - but I have to be practical.

WiscoProud > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:35

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I hear you. I have an almost 2 year old and it would make things much easier.

functionoverfashion > WiscoProud 06/20/2016 at 11:36

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The biggest difference is we have a gigantic wood deck off the kitchen, and I’ll use the gas grill on the deck - never the charcoal though.

Rico > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:42

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Yeah I know what setup you’re talking about, the air suspension on steroids.

WiscoProud > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 11:43

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Yeah, it would be nice to be able to use the grill on our deck too. Like you, I'm relegated to the driveway when we grill with charcoal.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 12:09

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Okay, but only if we can drink in autonomous mode.

functionoverfashion > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 06/20/2016 at 12:38

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Where do I sign?

Chteelers > functionoverfashion 06/20/2016 at 13:23

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Proposition: All new cars come with full auto-pilot control. Driving skills tests are required of all drivers, administered by SCCA and NHTSA. Results determine the level of manual control permitted to the driver. Skilled drivers can access full manual control, and my wife’s friends are allowed zero control.

functionoverfashion > Chteelers 06/20/2016 at 13:42

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Please also add rally schools to that list. Scandinavian Flick all day!