Bloomberg: “Tesla Optimus Bots were Remotely Operated at Cybercab Event”

Some attendees said on social media afterward that the robots had help and at least one video posted online purportedly from the Oct. 10 Cybercab event shows an Optimus bartender acknowledging that it was being assisted by a human. That wasn’t stated by Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk during his remarks on a webcast.

The use of human input raises questions over the capabilities and market readiness of the bot, which Musk said last week he expects to be the biggest product ever of any kind. The CEO told the crowd it will handle many household tasks and could eventually be available to consumers for $20,000 to $30,000 each.

What can it do? Musk said. It can be a teacher, babysit your kids, it can walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries, just be your friend, serve drinks. Whatever you can think of, it will do.

Edward Ludlow & David Welch

Awkward for the part that ‘stole the show’ for some attendants to have been faked all along (I chuckled at the top comment on The Verge calling them Decepticons). The main event itself, the launch of Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi, was considered underwhelming due to its vagueness on technical details and the economics of the supposed robotaxi business – more of a concepts showcase than anything else. At least this time around the company was met with a frosty reaction on the stock markets, with shares dropping 9%, the worst decline in more than two months.

Reuters: “Tesla’s secret team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints”

Tesla years ago began exaggerating its vehicles’ potential driving distance – by rigging their range-estimating software. The company decided about a decade ago, for marketing purposes, to write algorithms for its range meter that would show drivers “rosy” projections for the distance it could travel on a full battery, according to a person familiar with an early design of the software for its in-dash readouts.

Then, when the battery fell below 50% of its maximum charge, the algorithm would show drivers more realistic projections for their remaining driving range, this person said. To prevent drivers from getting stranded as their predicted range started declining more quickly, Teslas were designed with a “safety buffer”, allowing about 15 miles (24 km) of additional range even after the dash readout showed an empty battery, the source said.

The directive to present the optimistic range estimates came from Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, this person said.

Elon wanted to show good range numbers when fully charged, the person said, adding: When you buy a car off the lot seeing 350-mile, 400-mile range, it makes you feel good.

Steve Stecklow & Norihiko Shirouzu

I would totally trust this Musk guy to safely land people on Mars!

CNBC: “Elon Musk: Work from home ‘morally wrong’ when some have to show up”

I think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, Let them eat cake, Musk said. It’s not just a productivity thing, Musk said. I think it’s morally wrong.

Musk referred to tech workers as the laptop classes living in la-la-land, telling Faber it was hypocritical to work from home while expecting service workers to continue to show up in person.

Rohan Goswami

How detached from reality can you be to call remote work ‘morally wrong’ while holding who-even-knows how many job titles simultaneously and bouncing between them in your private jet!? As the owner of an automobile company, Musk has a commercial interest for people to commute more as it drives up demand for cars, including his own. If there’s a Marie Antoinette in this scenario, that’s most certainly Elon Musk himself.

The New York Times: “Why New York’s Giant Trash Bag Piles may be an Endangered Species”

New York City is a bit of a global pariah when it comes to trash. On garbage days in Manhattan, towers of fetid trash bags line the streets, with food and liquids oozing on to sidewalks. Sanitation workers carry out the Sisyphean task of carting away 24 million pounds of trash and recycling every day.

Other cities have successfully reined in their garbage. Amsterdam uses underground storage and electric boats. Singapore and other cities use a pneumatic pressure chute system. Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Paris rely on shared and individual trash containers, providing the most useful examples of what is possible in New York, city officials said.

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In a highly anticipated new report being released on Wednesday, city sanitation officials estimate that it would be possible to move trash to containers on 89 percent of the city’s residential streets. To do so, however, will require removing 150,000 parking spots, and up to 25 percent of parking spots on some blocks.

Emma G. Fitzsimmons

I was genuinely taken aback to learn how (poorly) garbage is handled in New York City. Every metropolis has its fair share of issues and garbage can easily pile in densely populated areas, but in New York this is the rule rather than an exception… Obligatory comment: only in America would people value their cars and parking spots more than having cleaner streets.

Energy Monitor: “EU ICE ban: Did Germany just kill the electric car?”

Germany wants the law changed to allow for the sale of ICE cars after 2035 if they run on hydrogen-derived e-fuels, which are produced by electrolysis with added carbon. Since, unlike Italy, Germany has enough voting power to kill the legislation simply by abstaining in the final vote, the European Commission has started drafting a compromise to allow this. French President Emmanuel Macron, who strongly supports the ICE ban, is meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at an EU summit in Brussels today. Macron may support the compromise in exchange for German support for nuclear power as a ‘green’ tool to fight climate change.

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Most automakers actually supported the original legislation because they see a market opportunity in EVs, the campaigner points out. The vast majority of automakers don’t even want this, says Keynes. Ford, Audi, VW and Volvo have all come out 100% against this idea. Basically, Porsche is the only carmaker that has openly said they are investing in this [e-fuels]. This is really a solution for sports cars, because it is so expensive.

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The benefit of e-fuels is that they are a ‘drop-in’ fuel that can be fed into any ICEs already on the road today, either blended or pure. A hard 2035 ban on ICEs could kill investment in e-fuels – potential markets in aviation and shipping do not on their own provide a sufficiently strong business case to get e-fuels off the ground, says the industry – and deprive drivers of a potential medium-term climate solution.

Dave Keating

I’ve been loosely following this debate on Twitter with a mix of bemusement and disbelief – the law received final approval from EU energy ministers on Tuesday. You would think the entire climate strategy of the EU rested on this single piece of legislation, which doesn’t even apply to heavy trucks and buses by the way. In reality, transitioning to electric cars reduces greenhouse gas emissions only insofar as the electricity consumed comes from carbon-neutral sources – a caveat that applies equally to vehicles powered by e-fuels. Otherwise we’re just shifting the source of the emissions from roads to powerplants – which may improve air quality in cities, but does nothing to address global warming.

The Wall Street Journal: “Elon Musk’s Boring Company ghosts Cities across America”

Dazzled by Boring’s boasts that it had revolutionized tunneling, and the cachet of working with the billionaire head of EV maker Tesla Inc., the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority dumped plans for a traditional light rail and embraced the futuristic tunnel.

When it came time to formalize the partnership and get to work, Boring itself went underground—just as it has done in Maryland, Chicago and Los Angeles. Boring didn’t submit a bid for Ontario by the January 2022 deadline.

The six-year-old company has repeatedly teased cities with a pledge to solve soul-destroying traffic, only to pull out when confronted with the realities of building public infrastructure, according to former executives and local, state and federal government officials who have worked with Mr. Musk’s Boring. The company has struggled with common bureaucratic hurdles like securing permits and conducting environmental reviews, the people said.

Every time I see him on TV with a new project, or whatever, I’m like: Oh, I remember that bullet train to Chicago O’Hare, said Chicago Alderman Scott Waguespack. Boring had backed away from its proposal for a high-speed tunnel link to the airport there.

Ted Mann & Julie Bykowicz

At this point, it should be blindingly obvious to anyone with an ounce of reason that you should never take Elon Musk’s promises at face value. They are intended primarily to reinforce his public perception as a visionary tech mogul and discourage projects that might compete with his existing businesses (such as selling cars). The real question in this reporting should be why local administrations continue to fall for his perpetual deception. In my view, the issue is how social media has skewed politics, amplifying grand but hollow announcements and vows – propaganda basically – while quiet but reliable administrators who deliver results for their communities are dismissed as boring and lacking presence.

The Verge: “Check out BMW’s color-changing concept car in action”

For this year’s CES, BMW showed off the i Vision Dee, an electric sports sedan concept that previewed a whole raft of technologies we could see in the immediate future, like AI-powered virtual assistants and full-windshield heads-up displays. But it also included a full-color version of the E Ink technology seen on last year’s concept for the first time ever.

This means that the i Vision Dee — which looks like a kind of cross between a vintage BMW and a Tesla — can change colors on command. Instead of just black, white, and gray, 32 colors are now available. Not only that but the i Vision Dee is made up of 240 E Ink e-paper segments, all of which can be controlled individually. This means the i Vision Dee can shift to one solid color or put on one hell of a light show.

This allows an almost infinite variety of patterns to be generated and varied within seconds, BMW said in a statement.

Patrick George

A cool concept that could cause unfortunate side effects on the roads. A car changing colors while driving could prove distracting to other drivers and people on the road. The effect could be even more perilous at night: electric cars already produce less noise that combustion engines; imagine a silent vehicle adopting a dark color on the streets. With the headlights off it would be nearly impossible to spot for pedestrians. And a full-windshield heads-up display, bombarding the driver with notifications or – gasp! – running ads! seems like an accident waiting to happen too.