[MuseChaser]

I am COMPLETELY conflicted in my thoughts about autopiloted cars in general and the Tesla specifically. The Tesla is really the first electric car that's of any practical use, i.e., big enough to carry passengers and cargo while having a range large enough to go places other than the end of your driveway and back. On top of that, although I've never driven one, it sure seems as if its performance and handling would keep most drivers enthused about the experience. The price puts it way above my pay grade, but if I could afford one I'd probaby go check one out. I did the math and a full charge would cost me about $7.50 where I live, compared to the $28-$32 it costs me to fill up the FR-S. The FR-S will go maybe 50-100 miles further per fillup (figuring 260 for the Telsa and 360 for the FR-S), but that still makes the Tesla, at least in terms of fuel, much cheaper to drive. I'd miss the third pedal very much, though. Haven't owned an automatic car yet other than the large family trucksters my wife has driven over the years and the 560SL summer toy. Anyway, it's nice to see a manufacturer truly invested in making a useful, high-performance electric car. The other electric car options' (Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf) sole purpose seems to be to give the owner the ability to smugly brag that they've bought an expensive electric car that does almost nothing so they can show how sensitive they are to the environment, conveniently forgetting that the electricity has to be generated SOMEWHERE and that batteries are made from some pretty amazingly hazardous materials. The best car for the environment is the one you already own, kept in good condition. It's not in a landfill, and manufacturing a new car is, out of necessity, a polluting process to some degree. Buying a new car every year is one of the worst things you can do for the environment, electric or not, although it's great for the economy. I digress...

Car autopilots - another toughie. Personally, I'll always trust myself more than a computer, especially with my family onboard. However, I'd trust autopilots in OTHER cars way more than most other human drivers on the road. That's not ego, it's just the way we're ALL wired; we value our own safety more than other people's safety. Read enough posts on this forum, and you'll see that there's no arguing that point. The folks that would be most interested in autopilots are probably the folks that are already pretty passive drivers (in other words, safe predictable drivers in the first place), or folks that, for health or age reasons, don't feel safe driving any more on their own due to decaying reaction times, inability to judge distances, or whatever. Autopilots would keep those people mobile longer and more safely, so that'd be a good thing. Sadly, the folks that would have the least amount of interest in autopilots are probably the folks who should use them the most; those who drive like idiots, endangering all of our lives so they can have fun weaving in and out of traffic at ridiculous speeds, tailgating, road-raging, racing on highways, etc. Those folks won't ever use autopilots anyway, so any safety gain from autopilots would be negligeable unless they were made mandatory and human driving made illegal. I have NO interest in that scenario.

Like I said... I'm completely conflicted. Hope that helps muddy the issue.

My work here is done.

Barry