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Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Universal Hands Free

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328 points doctoboggan | 9 comments | 11 Dec 25 18:17 UTC | HN request time: 1.387s | source | bottom
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TulliusCicero ◴[11 Dec 25 18:50 UTC] No.46235375[source]▶
Autonomy subscriptions are how things are going to go, I called this a long time ago. It makes too much sense in terms of continuous development and operations/support to not have a subscription -- and subscriptions will likely double as insurance at some point in the future (once the car is driving itself 100% of the time, and liability is always with the self driving stack anyway).

Of course, people won't like this, I'm not exactly enthused either, but the alternative would be a corporation constantly providing -- for free -- updates and even support if your car gets into an accident or stuck. That doesn't really make sense from a business perspective.

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stavros ◴[11 Dec 25 19:23 UTC] No.46235936[source]▶
Why would I own a car when I can Waymo one?
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1. paxys ◴[11 Dec 25 19:40 UTC] No.46236148[source]▶
Why do people own cars when they can just Uber?
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2. testing22321 ◴[11 Dec 25 19:49 UTC] No.46236233[source]▶
Because it’s not convenient enough, and too expensive.

Fix those two and personal car ownership will plummet in many places.

Many people don’t want to own a car, pay for insurance, gas, tires, oil changes, parking, washing etc.

Car ownership sucks horribly for most people, it’s just currently the best option. That will change.

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3. paxys ◴[11 Dec 25 20:03 UTC] No.46236401[source]▶
And why do you think Waymo will fix all of this?
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4. testing22321 ◴[11 Dec 25 20:37 UTC] No.46236801{3}[source]▶
I don’t particularly think that.

Someone will, I don’t know who. Soon.

5. llbeansandrice ◴[11 Dec 25 23:06 UTC] No.46238607{3}[source]▶
This is better solved by leveraging more traditional forms of transportation. Making biking, walking, and various forms of transit easier, safer, and more effective. Cars, whether self-driving or not, are in direct opposition to this.

I'm sure they could be useful to folks that have the specific use-case for it, but the vast vast majority of trips in a person's day-to-day are better solved by robust multi-modal options and public transit. The benefit there is that less drivers means that traffic is actually better for everyone.

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6. ◴[11 Dec 25 23:53 UTC] No.46239048[source]▶
7. ks2048 ◴[11 Dec 25 23:54 UTC] No.46239062[source]▶
Almost all these points apply ride hailing with or without driver-less.

How do Waymo prices compare to Uber where Waymo exists?

8. testing22321 ◴[12 Dec 25 00:24 UTC] No.46239349{4}[source]▶
I agree with you broadly in principle, but sadly cities in North America have been built for cars, and so they are by far the best way to get around
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9. llbeansandrice ◴[12 Dec 25 07:24 UTC] No.46241697{5}[source]▶
I actually see this as a benefit! Cars take up a lot of space and so now there exists massive right of ways that can be used and modified for other transit modes. Take a lane away from personal cars and dedicate it to buses so they can run faster and avoid traffic. Remove some street parking spots and create a protected bike lane or a street market or something else. The extra space can be a huge boon. It’s pavement, basically a blank canvas imo.