Tesla's upcoming Semi truck could ship with a 'Mad Max' Autopilot mode

[Polycount]

It's no secret that Tesla's Elon Musk is a fan of goofy easter eggs.

As we reported back in December, the company rolled out a "Santa Mode" easter egg, bringing the spirit of Christmas to Teslas around the world. The mode converted a driver's on-screen Tesla to Santa's sleigh, and other other-screen vehicles into reindeers, among other small tweaks.

Now, Tesla seems to be bringing a silly new mode to their upcoming Tesla Semi vehicle. Whereas other Tesla vehicles include speed modes like "Ludicrous" and "Plaid," the Semi houses a "Mad Mad Mode" toggle.

According to images posted by Musk on Twitter, however, the mode doesn't relate to vehicle speed. Rather, it seems to be tied to Autopilot's "Blind Spot Threshold" settings.

It’s real pic.twitter.com/L9h3F86Guo

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2018

Mad Max seems to be the most aggressive of the three blind spot options, while the other two are merely listed as "Standard" and "Aggressive." These options likely refer to how aggressive Autopilot's lane-switching functionality will be.

Musk says that, regardless of the option a user selects, the "reality is that it will always be pretty easy to bully a self-driving car," because the vehicles will always yield - likely in the interest of safety. As such, Musk plans to include a "manual override" for "hardcore" lane changes.

Whether or not Mad Max mode makes it into the final consumer version of the Tesla Semi remains to be seen, but it's certainly an intriguing concept.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/75232-tesla-upcoming-semi-truck-could-ship-mad-max.html

 

[hood6558]

What? Another misnomer by Tesla. First there was autopilot, which can't actually drive, now this Mad Max Mode, and they didn't even include a couple 'not a flamethrowers' that pop out of the fenders to punish offending motorists. And why call it that if it won't let you go full speed through a populated area, leveling anything that gets in your way? I can see the Mad Max memes after the first crash...

 

[JohnSe]

If you read the Twitter thread and look at the screen Elon Musk tweeted, it is clear the mode he was showing was in either a Model S or X. That was in response to a fan that tweeted the photoshopped picture from the movie where the big rig was replaced with a Tesla Semi.

Elon goes on to point out that they are testing levels of aggressiveness for automatic lane changes, pointing out that it is easy to bully an autonomous car and that sometimes the car would need to make a quick lane change even if it did not have as much space as it would normally want when making a change.

It was not an easter egg. Rather it was a setting on the development testing screen of an a Full Self Driving prototype.

 

[wiyosaya]

If you read the Twitter thread and look at the screen Elon Musk tweeted, it is clear the mode he was showing was in either a Model S or X. That was in response to a fan that tweeted the photoshopped picture from the movie where the big rig was replaced with a Tesla Semi.

Elon goes on to point out that they are testing levels of aggressiveness for automatic lane changes, pointing out that it is easy to bully an autonomous car and that sometimes the car would need to make a quick lane change even if it did not have as much space as it would normally want when making a change.

It was not an easter egg. Rather it was a setting on the development testing screen of an a Full Self Driving prototype.

What the a-hole, Musk, really is saying is that he thinks it will be easy for his "self-driving" semi to bully motorists, and that sudden lane changes even when there is not enough space for it to do so, will teach motorists a lesson.

Sounds like a good formula for getting Tesla sued, and completely destroying what is left of any public confidence in his company. He wants more scapegoats for the fact his "self-driving" crapmobiles are not really self-driving and getting into accidents. People will not tolerate this as this will be bullying.

I took a six-hour one-way drive this past week that took me along several interstates in NE US. Most drivers were considerate, however, even so, there were times where there was enough traffic congestion as to make lane changes nearly impossible - even without bullies on the road. Now Musk wants to introduce "autonomous bully vehicles" to the highway? I don't think so - not unless he wants lawsuits and laws passed that prohibit autonomous bully vehicles.

IMO, Musk is proving to be a four-year old child in a man's body. He's an overgrown brat who has no clue how to handle his wealth.

 

[captaincranky]

Not to worry kidz, it will be two years late and plagued with labor and production issues.

I can't wait to see footage should one of those bad boy's batteries should decide to go up in flames..(y)

@wiyosaya Since such a thing is alleged to exist as a "gentleman's gentleman", Musk is absolutely going out of his way to prove there is such a thing as an, "a**hole's a**hole".

And ease up dude, first you're likely to blow a fuse, and second the SJWs and the snowlflakes in, "Musk's Millennial Self Righteousness Warriors and Defenders of the Faith", are going to turn on you, the same way they turn on me...

Anyhoo:

 

[JohnSe]

What the a-hole, Musk, really is saying is that he thinks it will be easy for his "self-driving" semi to bully motorists, and that sudden lane changes even when there is not enough space for it to do so, will teach motorists a lesson.

Sounds like a good formula for getting Tesla sued, and completely destroying what is left of any public confidence in his company. He wants more scapegoats for the fact his "self-driving" crapmobiles are not really self-driving and getting into accidents. People will not tolerate this as this will be bullying.

I took a six-hour one-way drive this past week that took me along several interstates in NE US. Most drivers were considerate, however, even so, there were times where there was enough traffic congestion as to make lane changes nearly impossible - even without bullies on the road. Now Musk wants to introduce "autonomous bully vehicles" to the highway? I don't think so - not unless he wants lawsuits and laws passed that prohibit autonomous bully vehicles.

IMO, Musk is proving to be a four-year old child in a man's body. He's an overgrown brat who has no clue how to handle his wealth.

Whoa, there! I think you took my paraphrasing of Musk's Tweets exactly opposite of what he wrote. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1011044846776168448: "It’s a tough call. Reality is that it will be pretty easy to bully a self-driving car, as it will always yield. Will prob have a manual override that requires continuous press for hardcore lane changes."

It's not that the self-driving car would be a bully, rather human drivers would be able to bully the self-driving cars.

These modes are for the developers to test how different spacings fit in to different traffic flows. he also said "We considered going beyond Mad Max to “LA Freeway” level, but that’s too loco". Telsa has fun with naming things and making connections to pop culture.

 

[Larry1966]

The biggest question in the trucking industry is who do we Sue when one of these trucks ends up killing another person? Do you sue Tesla? Do you sue the people who programmed it? Do you sue the people that own the freight that the truck is hauling? Do you sue the person sitting in the driver seat not driving? Do you see the company that owns the truck? I can tell you in the lawyer Community they are going to sue every single one of those people or companies.

 

[cuerdc]

Truck cargo thefts may increase when these come into operation...

 

[wiyosaya]

Whoa, there! I think you took my paraphrasing of Musk's Tweets exactly opposite of what he wrote. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1011044846776168448: "It’s a tough call. Reality is that it will be pretty easy to bully a self-driving car, as it will always yield. Will prob have a manual override that requires continuous press for hardcore lane changes."

It's not that the self-driving car would be a bully, rather human drivers would be able to bully the self-driving cars.

Uh, I got that part. IMO, Musk is a paranoid a$$ if he really believes that normal people, I.e., people not attempting to hijack the vehicle - people simply trying to go from point A to point B, would go out of their way to bully a self-driving vehicle.

that sometimes the car would need to make a quick lane change even if it did not have as much space as it would normally want when making a change

Where is the threshold on that? There is a threshold for making a safe lane change. Trust me, if a self-driving vehicle were in the congested traffic I was in and it decided it was being bullied, when it was not, and then made a deliberate unsafe lane change, there would have been a serious accident involving multiple vehicles, and Musk would have his a$$ up in court.

As I see it, Musk is treading a slippery slope with this.

 

[wiyosaya]

The biggest question in the trucking industry is who do we Sue when one of these trucks ends up killing another person? Do you sue Tesla? Do you sue the people who programmed it? Do you sue the people that own the freight that the truck is hauling? Do you sue the person sitting in the driver seat not driving? Do you see the company that owns the truck? I can tell you in the lawyer Community they are going to sue every single one of those people or companies.

IMO, the people who programmed it and Tesla are one and the same since Tesla employs those people to program the vehicles.

I do agree, lawyers will have a field day with this if one of these vehicles causes an accident and/or a death especially if it was in "Mad Max Mode".

 

[wiyosaya]

Not to worry kidz, it will be two years late and plagued with labor and production issues.

I can't wait to see footage should one of those bad boy's batteries should decide to go up in flames..(y)

@wiyosaya Since such a thing is alleged to exist as a "gentleman's gentleman", Musk is absolutely going out of his way to prove there is such a thing as an, "a**hole's a**hole".

I think you and I agree that Musk does not have to go out of his way to prove that. He already is an a$$hole's a$$hole!