Everyone remembers the Cybercab, right? The gold, self-driving, strangely-only-seats-two robotaxi thing Tesla first unveiled at their event back in October? Sure you do. One of the whole raison d’etres of the thing is that it drives itself. Or, at least it will drive itself, when it’s actually ready; so far we’ve only seen it trundling around a very amusement park-style path at the launch event. I think that’s why this recent video of a Cybercab being loaded into position for a display at the Petersen Automotive Museum is so interesting: because the Cybercab is being driven by what appears to be a human being.
So, how is it being driven, exactly, and why isn’t Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software doing this kind of grunt work? Let’s see what we can find out.
If you haven’t seen the video, here it is:
Behind the scenes look at Cybercab being loaded into the Peterson Automotive Museum pic.twitter.com/2uKwN2jTp7
— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) December 18, 2024
Look at that! Someone is driving that Cybercab! I do have a bit more detail about what is going on here, thanks to an anonymous source who happened to be on site and close by while all this was happening. From their reports, the car is being driven by a video game-type controller (what kind specifically he couldn’t tell) and that controller is plugged into the car via a physical wire, but they were told that a wireless option (via Bluetooth maybe?) is possible as well, and allows for out-of-the-car, remote-control driving as well, which makes sense.
The other interesting thing that makes sense when you think about it is that the driver isn’t just anyone; it’s someone who has been specially trained to drive that car via the game controller, which, as you can imagine, is the kind of thing that takes some practice.
The controls are quite different from regular car controls, of course, and there’s no feel of any kind through the controller. I suppose if you’re used to playing driving video games, it’s pretty much like that, except you have like 4,000 pounds of EV at your fingertips, and all the consequences of hitting things in the real world surrounding you.
As for why the cab’s alleged self-driving wasn’t used for this, that’s an interesting question. I think the sort of driving happening here – very low speed, following commands from someone outside the car, in a very unusual partially indoor environment – these all add up to some of the most challenging circumstances one could ask a self-driving system to operate in.
Think about it – not a common road-like environment, extreme precision required for getting wheels on those ramps, and it would need the ability to read human gestures and, yes, expressions to work. If the person guiding you suddenly goes pale and opens their eyes wide and starts gesturing frantically, we as humans immediately know we need to be careful and alert. A machine has no idea.
I suspect that no matter how advanced self-driving cars get, there will always need to be some sort of method for humans to control the cars, for situations like this or even more common and mundane ones, like following parking lot attendant directions when parking in a big, grassy field for a concert or something.
Will there one day be some sort of truncated driver’s license you can get that allows you to drive a self-driving car in those circumstances, at low speeds? Would a self-driving car automatically limit its top speed to like 15 mph when under remote control? Should it? Or should a person always have the option to take over driving with some sort of controller if desired?
There’s other interesting details here, like how the Cybercab seems to be using Tesla Model 3 rear performance brakes at the rear, and Tesla Model 3 normal rear brakes at the front! Also, without the wheel covers, you can see the silly gold stripe on the tires used to make them look lower-profile or whatever. I prefer the look with just the uncovered wheels!
We have so much to figure out when it comes to automated driving, and this little clip of video is a great reminder of just how much there is still yet to do.
If Elon’s Full self driving is only now raising questions those people must be loving under a rock! I just hope Elon doesn’t fuck with the NHTSA to badly…. If he does we’ll all become a much more involuntary test subject for his wanna be FSD.
Anyone who drives a cYbErJuNkCaB (or any Tesla or EV TRASH) is not human anyway…
This indicates to me that it would be easy for Tesla to add conventional controls to this and turn it into a Tesla Model 3 Sport Coupe.
This is why I don’t think true level 5 with no controls will happen in my lifetime (I’m not willing to go to never because who knows what will happen 1000 years from now?). Using the existing AV tech, how on earth are they going to handle the time I was directed to pull up on a high school lawn to park at a track meet? That isn’t just repeating the actions of a million human drivers over the years, it’s a unique scenario that requires breaking normal driving rules. I’m not at all convinced I want my car to be able to independently decide to break traffic laws.
“Using the existing AV tech, how on earth are they going to handle the time I was directed to pull up on a high school lawn to park at a track meet?”
Hypothetically? Valet mode. You get out and the event gives the car the GPS coordinates of its assigned parking spot and the exact route to get there. Or it just follows a valet to where it needs to go.
What questions does it exactly raise? Elon has been lying about the autonomous capabilities of Teslas for nigh on a decade. This is just par for the course.
A billionaire riding in a vehicle controlled by a Logitech controller, you say? What could go wrong?
History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes
Port-a-walls are back, baby!
https://portawallshop.com/
Were they ever gone???
Of all the things on my 2024 bingo card, Tesla bringing back whitewalls (goldwalls?) somehow did not make the cut.
> If the person guiding you suddenly goes pale and opens their eyes wide and starts gesturing frantically, we as humans immediately know we need to be careful and alert. A machine has no idea.
Eh, a machine can be taught that. If they can detect deer crossing the road, they can most definitely understand typical gestures at close range.
Also, “raison d’être” should be “raisons d’être” in the plural. Like raisins! Nom nom nom.
You know what didn’t have hubcaps? My topaz. If ford was advanced enough to supply a bottom feeder car in 89 without them, maybe 2025 shouldn’t have them either?
A perfect addition to the soon to open collection of bubble-economy failed autonomy vehicles. The Google/Waymo Firefly, the I-Pace, the Zeekr CM1 is already part of the Petersen collection, so this will fit right in.
Tesla Myself driving cab
Careful talking about Leon here, DT is gonna be all moody.
It hasn’t even accomplished anything yet, so what does the Petersen Museum plan to display it as? I like to think they already have mockups for “the car that started the AV future” and “lol look at this dumb idea”.
PS I’ve only been there once, 9 years ago, but I paid for the underground tour and it was 100% worth it. Hopefully the museum is as good as I remember and they’re doing well.
Agreed. This car does not belong in a museum.
While I think it’s likely very accurate that any autonomous car of the future will need alternate fail-safe control methods, my money is on this car being a demo mockup that can only be controlled by whatever wired controller is lying around.
After all… the actual car is years away.
Next year…. as defined by musk, so I expect the Mackie arrive first.
I’m still all-in on the Elio!
Gee, I thought the self-driving was ready for the big leagues! Well I’ll be! Never saw that coming.