Most of you might have heard of Tesla Motors, the guys who make really exciting electric cars. A prime example of this is the Tesla Model S (like the one pictured, below). Stunning to look at and with breathtaking performance from its powerful, yet frugal electric motors, this silent car could shame some thoroughbred sports cars in terms of its outright acceleration. Thank you, electric motors! The CEO of Tesla Motors is South African entrepreneur and inventor of PayPal, Elon Musk. And according to Musk, there is a chance, however bleak it might seem, that autonomous cars might replace today’s human-driven ones. Don’t like the thought of that? Well, neither do we.
Tesla Model S. This isn’t autonomous, yet!
Elon Musk believes that autonomous cars can be a lot safer than their human-driven counterparts. Come to think of it, he isn’t wrong on that bit. Most studies on vehicle accidents, have pointed their research fingers squarely at the driver, i.e, human error as the primary cause. Musk’s theory of these future vehicles with a super smart computer for a brain (rather, a bank of computers), is key to the success of self-driving cars in times to come. And out of all of their advantages, safety, would be their utmost USP. “However, when self-driving cars become safer than human-driven cars, the public may outlaw the latter. Hopefully not”, said Musk on Twitter.
The dashboard of the Tesla Model S is dominated by a massive 17-inch touchscreen.
Tweeting about his company’s stand on the topic, Musk said, “To be clear, Tesla is strongly in favor of people being allowed to drive their cars and always will be. Hopefully, that is obvious.” So although the CEO thinks that the roads of the future might have autonomous cars plying on them, he also hints that the transformation might happen due to customer demand. Musk is of the opinion that people who drive cars on their own, today, might perceive it to be dangerous in the future. We really hope that such a day doesn’t come any time soon, but not because we preach against safety. However, for those who love to drive on their own, sitting in an autonomous car and letting it do the driving, will be similar to getting in a taxi. On the flip side, the autonomous car could be a godsend for those who dread driving in today’s congested and frustrating driving scenarios. That said, it would be interesting to see what this tech would be like and how it might perform in real-world situations. Tell us what you think of autonomous cars and whether you are with or against them.