Businesses of all kinds thrive on the "this is the future" declaration and sometimes they kind of use it against us. For example, we don't really want to have our movements tracked for our safety and convenience, even though various tech companies try to do so without our knowledge.
Another thing people, or more specifically drivers, claim not to want is a future where cars don't need us to get from point A to point B. However, every auto journalist in the world wants to test Tesla's new Autopilot system available on the Model S sedan. Why the contradiction? Because letting go of the steering wheel feels so freakish that it becomes an awesome experience, a bit like strapping yourself into the seat of an amusement park ride.
This new clip comes all the way from Australia, where the P90D was put to the test on the most famous road in Sydney, the Harbor Bridge. There are six lanes in total, but there's no barrier between you and oncoming traffic.
Most normal "city assist" systems would freak out and slam the brakes because they would see vehicles coming the other way as a threat. But Tesla's system knows those cars are in a different lane and pose no threat.
Mercedes and Infiniti both have very advanced semi-autonomous systems that can keep you within your lane. What's more, the fact that Tesla also helps you with parallel parking is not groundbreaking either, as some German manufacturers let you move the car into a narrow garage remotely. However, it's very useful when you're back from a long trip and are too tired to park a 5-meter long vehicle filled with noisy kids.
There's a disclaimer we need to put at the end of this story. You see, the Model S' reliability is so bad that Consumer Reports says it cannot recommend the car. Combine that with the monopoly Tesla holds on fixing its own vehicles and you begin to see why the luxury EV is like an iPhone regarding price and fragility too, not just the high-tech stuff.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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