The Hype and Reality of Autonomous Cars: Lessons from Tesla rental experiences 6 years apart

It's been six years since I last had the first opportunity to rent a Tesla and now, my recent experience with the Tesla Y has left me feeling a bit disappointed. Back in 2016, I was in San Diego for a few days and had the chance to rent a Tesla S. It was an unforgettable experience. The unique things related to an electric car, like no noise and amazing acceleration, were certainly impressive, but what really stood out to me was the self-driving feature.

It took me about 15 minutes to get used to it and transform the initial tension into becoming relaxed enough to check my emails on my smartphone, not worrying about traffic along the way for an hour or more. I was so impressed that in September 2016 I wrote a post predicting that an 8-year-old child back then would probably have the option to never want to learn how to drive a car, considering that within the following 10 years there would be plenty of fully autonomous, affordable cars available in the market.

Fast forward to late 2022, when I again had the opportunity to rent a Tesla Y while in Orlando. I suppose that the 6-year gap generated an expectation on me that was definitively not satisfied by this new experience.

Yes, now the Tesla can drive by itself on more urban surroundings, recognize traffic lights, but not much more than that. And even that can't be performed everywhere. In addition to being bugged by the system every few minutes to show that I'm paying attention, there are many situations that I'm asked to take over.

All in all, this time I left with a clear impression that the technology development got stuck or at least is evolving much slower than expected. And this makes me wonder that my 2016 prediction is probably incorrect: we will not have fully autonomous affordable vehicles by 2026, unless a manufacturer comes up with the next chatGPT of cars and jumps ahead of everybody else.

As a business leader, I understand the importance of innovation and staying ahead of the curve. But, as my recent experience with the Tesla Y has shown, sometimes even the most revolutionary technology can hit roadblocks and fall short of our expectations. This serves as a reminder to always be critical of our predictions and to not get too caught up in the hype of new technologies.

It's important to acknowledge the progress that has been made in the field of autonomous vehicles, and to celebrate the achievements of companies like Tesla. However, it's also important to remain realistic and recognize that there is still a long way to go before we see fully autonomous, affordable cars on the market. And, we must also consider that the development of autonomous vehicles is not just about the technology itself, but also the legal and regulatory framework that will be required to support it.

In conclusion, while my 2016 prediction that we would have fully autonomous, affordable cars by 2026 may have been a bit too optimistic, the dream of self-driving cars is still alive and well. We must continue to push the boundaries of what's possible, and to support the companies and individuals who are working tirelessly to make this dream a reality. But, we must also remain grounded in reality and acknowledge that there is still a lot of work to be done before we see fully autonomous, affordable cars on the roads.