Car Chat

[Eye of the Tiger]

What does LOTR mean?

Something about Audi rings

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Something about Audi rings

AHHHH Lord Of The Rings?

[giant_mtb]

AHHHH Lord Of The Rings?

Yup.  I thought I was clever since the Audi symbol is:



and I'm a big LOTR fan.

[MrH]

Nerrrrrrrd!

[dazzleman]

AHHHH Lord Of The Rings?

The movie has special significance for him.   He was watching it the first time he got laid.

[Soup DeVille]

The movie has special significance for him.   He was watching it the first time he got laid.

Just don't ask him about glamdring.

[giant_mtb]

The movie has special significance for him.   He was watching it the first time he got laid.

It's true.  I'm surprised you remember that fucking amazing factoid.

Not sure if that was the point where I fell in love with LOTR or if it was some time after that, but obviously it has always played a special place in my........heart.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Yup.  I thought I was clever since the Audi symbol is:



and I'm a big LOTR fan.

Gotcha!

It's true.  I'm surprised you remember that fucking amazing factoid.

Not sure if that was the point where I fell in love with LOTR or if it was some time after that, but obviously it has always played a special place in my........heart.

WOW! 

[dazzleman]

It's true.  I'm surprised you remember that fucking amazing factoid.

Not sure if that was the point where I fell in love with LOTR or if it was some time after that, but obviously it has always played a special place in my........heart.

How could I forget something like that?  It''s legendary....

[giant_mtb]

Ugh.

[AutobahnSHO]

Lol

[giant_mtb]

Speaking of, this was one of the last pictures I took/posted on my FB page of said Audi.  She's been gone for four years now.

[Galaxy]

I always found your LOTR plate for the A4 neat.

[giant_mtb]

Mazda key fobs are made by Mitsubishi Electric.

[12,000 RPM]

I know ConservativeSPIN hates Gawker but I thought this was an interesting piece on Uber

https://gizmodo.com/how-corporate-delusions-of-automation-fuel-the-cruelty-1834627595

When are people going to wake up to the reality that autonomous driving isn't coming soon, and on the off chance it is, shitshows like Uber and Lyft won't be our entry points? I thought analysts were smaaht.

[CaminoRacer]

Why are people still driving for those companies? I'd find a new job if they aren't paying well. Play your free market card.

[Laconian]

Why are people still driving for those companies? I'd find a new job if they aren't paying well. Play your free market card.

Maybe it's their best available employment option? :\

[93JC]

I hate Gawker because they were peddlers of paparazzi-level schlock, and I'm not a member of "ConservativeSPIN".

That said, the drivers have no bargaining power whatsoever and they really are "meatbag placeholders" until/if they get the autonomous driving figured out. It takes barely any qualifications to become a driver for either of these services; most people with a driver's licence could do it. Taxi companies lobbied municipal governments to create 'medallion' systems so that cities wouldn't be burgeoning with an oversupply of cabbies making pennies per hour of their time. Uber and Lyft are not "rideshare" companies: they're unregulated cab companies trying their damnedest to rid themselves of the "meatbag placeholders".

Personally I think what really needs work on a government level is setting the bar for qualifications very, very high. All cabbies should have to go through something like London's "Knowledge" test.

[2o6]

The economy isn't doing anywhere near as good as we're told. Other jobs don't pay well, and even as a side gig "ridesharing" makes little se she.


I'm glad I got a top comment on the Jalopnik article yesterday.

[2o6]

I've been posting about how shitty ride sharing is BS on Facebook for the past day.


Here's an out of context rant I made because I don't feel like typing this out again

" Lyft announced a partnership with Waymo (self driving car company) and Uber released language that they fully expect drivers to become increasingly disatisfied with the service as time goes on.

Anyways, I'm here to say that the "self driving car is going to make the make the driver obsolete" rationale

1. Autonomous driving technology isn't there yet, and it's not clear if it ever will be. Tesla had to walk back it's "autopilot" claims. Tesla's autopilot has literally killed people because of issues with path finding, agent detection, and simple electrical/mechanical issues. GM's "super cruise" is considered the best autonomous system out right now, and GM is very adamant that it's more of a heavily assisted cruise control; not true autonomous driving.

2. Even if we pretend, or somehow that autonomous driving somehow has a breakthrough in the next six months - Autonomous driving usually is synonymous with mass EV adoption, and we don't have the infrastructure for this.

How many lyft and Uber vehicles do you think there are in your city? Dozens?

Naw, hundreds or even thousands.

Where are you going to charge them?

Do you know how EXPENSIVE real estate in a big city would be for this? Can you picture having a huge charging yard for lyft and Uber cars in...San Francisco? The land value alone would be astronomical; not even counting the power bill and staffing required to run the place.

3. Considering the above point; Lyft and Uber only "make money" (generate revenue, more accurately) because the maintenance and care of the vehicle is passed onto the driver.

I have literally put 100k miles on my car since I bought it in 2016.

I've gone through three sets of tires; two of those sets were due to wear. One set I lost due to winter potholes.

I get away with driving for so long because I either fix my own car, or can pay my friends much cheaper rates than if I were getting my car serviced at a dealer.

4. "oh, well electric vehicles are cheaper and less complex, and the lyft and Uber autonomous cars will be electric!"

Cool. People don't realize that electric vehicles still have issues inherent to being a car? They still have suspension, tires, axles, and other things that periodically need to be checked and maintained?

Who's going to do this?

Lyft and Uber are going to need to pay people to service and care for their vehicles; auto mechanics are a skilled trade; their base rate is likely higher than that of a driver.

5. Where are you going to charge this fleet of autonomous electric cars? Who's going to plug them in?

You have several hundred cars that are electric - where and who plugs them in for the required 5-8 hours?

Not only will lyft and Uber need a physical dispatch/logistics person to coordinate the charging and release of vehicles, they would literally need someone to physically plug in said vehicles.

(see: Car2Go and why Daimler partnered up with BMW's reach now after shrinking and pulling out of many markets)

6. Passengers are dirty and disrespectful. With an unmanned car, what's stopping these cars from becoming a public toilet? Who's going to check and clean them?

(I air my car out between every ride, and I generally do a wipe down of hard surfaces every 5th ride or so)

Please think with your head. "Autonomous driving" replacing you is something these large corporations have conjured up to scare you so they can justify taking more money."

[giant_mtb]

I've been laughing at the idea of autonomous cars since..........the whole time!

[SJ_GTI]

...GM's "super cruise" is considered the best autonomous system out right now, and GM is very adamant that it's more of a heavily assisted cruise control; not true autonomous driving.

I don't disagree with your overarching point. This sentence piqued my curiosity though...I haven't heard of GM's super cruise. Is this on the Bolt?

 

[giant_mtb]

I don't disagree with your overarching point. This sentence piqued my curiosity though...I haven't heard of GM's super cruise. Is this on the Bolt?

 

AFAIK, it's only on Cadillacs right now?  Could be wrong.

[2o6]

I also think the "economy is doing well" is a myth. Wages are flat as shit, and the places that have all the jobs have high cost of living, so your wages have less buying power than ever before.

[12,000 RPM]

Economy is doing well for an increasingly smaller slice of the population. Shit like the stock market and even GDP growth is irrelevant to the average American, but those are 2 of the 3 metrics used to guide the economy (the other one being inflation). I posted a jump off point for looking at the economy more broadly but some folks here REALLY did not like it

[2o6]

I hate Gawker because they were peddlers of paparazzi-level schlock, and I'm not a member of "ConservativeSPIN".

That said, the drivers have no bargaining power whatsoever and they really are "meatbag placeholders" until/if they get the autonomous driving figured out. It takes barely any qualifications to become a driver for either of these services; most people with a driver's licence could do it. Taxi companies lobbied municipal governments to create 'medallion' systems so that cities wouldn't be burgeoning with an oversupply of cabbies making pennies per hour of their time. Uber and Lyft are not "rideshare" companies: they're unregulated cab companies trying their damnedest to rid themselves of the "meatbag placeholders".

Personally I think what really needs work on a government level is setting the bar for qualifications very, very high. All cabbies should have to go through something like London's "Knowledge" test.

The complaints that lead to the strike are two fold:

Over saturation of drivers in large markets that lead to fewer rides for all is part of it...but

Rate cuts, and surge pricing removal (just for the driver, mind you) is another big one.

In Columbus, I'm paid $0.875 a mile. San Francisco makes a paltry $0.91 a mile.

Orlando gets a borderline criminal $0.59 a mile.

[2o6]

Economy is doing well for an increasingly smaller slice of the population. Shit like the stock market and even GDP growth is irrelevant to the average American, but those are 2 of the 3 metrics used to guide the economy (the other one being inflation). I posted a jump off point for looking at the economy more broadly but some folks here REALLY did not like it

It's obvious; I mean sales of cars (particularly cheap models) are flat.

[BimmerM3]

Orlando gets a borderline criminal $0.59 a mile.

That's barely above the federal mileage reimbursement rate ($0.58).

[giant_mtb]

Autonomous cars...what's more boring than driving a long freeway slog in a normal car?  Not actually having to give any inputs, yet you still have to keep a hand on the wheel and your eyes on the road or else the car will yell at you...this shit is so dummmmmb.  Excuse me, sir, please stop looking at the scenery, the car may be driving for you, but I still require the majority of your attention to be on the road. 

[2o6]

That's barely above the federal mileage reimbursement rate ($0.58).

They get paid per minute too, but yes.


And also, that's in Lyft and Uber's IPO releases, last I checked. They want the entire country at the IRS reimbursement rate.