Why do car manufacturers brag about hitting 60 mph in 1, 2 or whatever seconds? For a normal person, does this really matter - what is the big deal if a car hits 60 mph in 5 seconds instead of 1? There are more important things like safety, repairability, longevity etc right?
It’s standard measure of acceleration. If you are going to sell a car on performance (like say… a sporty roadster), it’s a great metric.
People in the market for a car like this care far more about performance than they do safety, repairability or longevity.
That’s why performance oriented cars talk about their acceleration, and minivans talk about safety, and pickup trucks talk about longevity. Their target market determines which of the various metrics are going to be the headline.
For the Roadster, it's a supercar. None of those things matter much.
For something like the performance versions of their high-volume vehicles, it's partially for the same reasons people like sports cars, or at least how some people like a sports car that is faster / quicker and gives them more excitement while driving (obviously a lot of the appeal for sports cars otherwise is the sporty look/sound of the engine, which Tesla doesn't really deliver on at all).
This is a sports car with a deposit that costs more than an ordinary new car, and with a price that would probably buy you a decent house. Nothing about this is meant for a normal person.
It's just one stat and it makes for a good headline. Obviously those other things are important but they don't exactly fit into a headline. Oh and some people like fast cars. Why is that so confusing?
It's one thing they can brag about, you know. Dumbing everything down to a single number, regardless of whether it's meaningful, feels impressive.
The vast majority of LLM users -- not the average person here on HN -- doesn't know which "model" they are using, can't tell the difference and don't care, including many software engineers. You could ask the same thing about those LLM benchmarks.
as with lots of muscles, it's actually the dudes who care about this the most :D get hugely muscular and get a nice sports car and dudes will absolutely love you.
Amazing tech demo. I would have liked to see more discussion of the cold-gas thrusters in the earlier Hacker News article. Some people seemed confused and made claims that the demo was a separate "rocket" version that used a combustion technology.
Well it is a separate rocket version, it just doesn't take jet fuel. "Invite only" for the rocket version means probably less than 5 will ever be made, if that.
Nobody needs that kind of acceleration on a car designed for use on public roads, and anyone who uses that capability in the vicinity of other people or vehicles deserves to be arrested. Its just criminally dangerous.
Like the Cybertruck, this is just the Musk "fuck you, get out of my way" worldview realised as metal and plastic.
I agree. I remember as a kid getting so excited for Detroit concept cars that never hit the market. Now, unless something is actually for sale, I basically ignore it.
Really disappointing to see such low quality discussion here. Feasibility aside, we would not be seeing such reactions even 5 years ago. Polarization ruins everything.
I dont see actual landing part, even drone for some reason flew away, very convenient. Unless its super smooth (which it doesnt seem to be), one can expect progressive damage on these heavy cars.
Marketing stunt is nice, I care more about consistent nazi behavior of the owner.
Why do car manufacturers brag about hitting 60 mph in 1, 2 or whatever seconds? For a normal person, does this really matter - what is the big deal if a car hits 60 mph in 5 seconds instead of 1? There are more important things like safety, repairability, longevity etc right?
It’s standard measure of acceleration. If you are going to sell a car on performance (like say… a sporty roadster), it’s a great metric.
People in the market for a car like this care far more about performance than they do safety, repairability or longevity.
That’s why performance oriented cars talk about their acceleration, and minivans talk about safety, and pickup trucks talk about longevity. Their target market determines which of the various metrics are going to be the headline.
For the Roadster, it's a supercar. None of those things matter much.
For something like the performance versions of their high-volume vehicles, it's partially for the same reasons people like sports cars, or at least how some people like a sports car that is faster / quicker and gives them more excitement while driving (obviously a lot of the appeal for sports cars otherwise is the sporty look/sound of the engine, which Tesla doesn't really deliver on at all).
People are interested in speed performance. What other measure should we use?
This is a sports car with a deposit that costs more than an ordinary new car, and with a price that would probably buy you a decent house. Nothing about this is meant for a normal person.
It's just one stat and it makes for a good headline. Obviously those other things are important but they don't exactly fit into a headline. Oh and some people like fast cars. Why is that so confusing?
It matters a lot, when playing Top Trumps [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Trumps
The more powerful the motor, the better the brakes and safety features.
I hope.
It's one thing they can brag about, you know. Dumbing everything down to a single number, regardless of whether it's meaningful, feels impressive.
The vast majority of LLM users -- not the average person here on HN -- doesn't know which "model" they are using, can't tell the difference and don't care, including many software engineers. You could ask the same thing about those LLM benchmarks.
Bruh. Chicks man. Chicks dig fast cars.
as with lots of muscles, it's actually the dudes who care about this the most :D get hugely muscular and get a nice sports car and dudes will absolutely love you.
Tesla Roadster vaporware edition MK2: now with actual vapor!
Amazing tech demo. I would have liked to see more discussion of the cold-gas thrusters in the earlier Hacker News article. Some people seemed confused and made claims that the demo was a separate "rocket" version that used a combustion technology.
Well it is a separate rocket version, it just doesn't take jet fuel. "Invite only" for the rocket version means probably less than 5 will ever be made, if that.
Cold gas or not, these are still rocket motors.
Without fuel or an oxidizer or combustion? Not really. It's compressed air, like an air rifle.
It takes genius to take rocket motors and cover them in cringe.
Nobody needs that kind of acceleration on a car designed for use on public roads, and anyone who uses that capability in the vicinity of other people or vehicles deserves to be arrested. Its just criminally dangerous.
Like the Cybertruck, this is just the Musk "fuck you, get out of my way" worldview realised as metal and plastic.
Looks like more hype nonsense to keep excitement going while continuing to delay actually delivering a real product.
I agree. I remember as a kid getting so excited for Detroit concept cars that never hit the market. Now, unless something is actually for sale, I basically ignore it.
one seat, designed by and for the most friendless man in the world.
Original roadster is one of the best looking car designs for my taste. This... subdivision modifier over the Cybertruck.
With a weird horizontal loop cut.
Makes sense, it was a Lotus Elise.
With such a powerful suction system, I can see this replacing street-sweeping trucks in a few years.
I you sweep up an hedgehog, will it be thrown out through the exhaust?
Or a banana. Mario Kart suddenly starts making sense.
All they were missing was the shark.
is it me or does it just look ugly?, was expecting the original roadster looks...
The original roadster was a Lotus Elise, all Tesla did was swap in an electric drivetrain.
Tesla has never really shown they can design anything compelling that doesn’t look like a lumpy shoe.
I think OP means the one they revealed 8/9 years ago, which still had a less-boxy supercar look.
What??!? You don't like the design of the cybertruck?
Tesla has been in the business of ugly cars for some time.
Really disappointing to see such low quality discussion here. Feasibility aside, we would not be seeing such reactions even 5 years ago. Polarization ruins everything.
> we would not be seeing such reactions even 5 years ago
5 years of broken promises and actively fighting to make the world worse will do a lot to opinions.
EPA won't like the gas emission
It's compressed air.
Nitrogen specifically
Was this real? I thought some wires were visible?
Greatest American company run by an African American ever.
Some more discussion here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50112657
Totally thought this was AI when I first saw this.
I dont see actual landing part, even drone for some reason flew away, very convenient. Unless its super smooth (which it doesnt seem to be), one can expect progressive damage on these heavy cars.
Marketing stunt is nice, I care more about consistent nazi behavior of the owner.
> An invite-only "Rocket" variant is a single-seat model with a "full flight system."
Tesla should be sued into oblivion over "full self driving", but after that, if you believe this nonsense and buy one that's on you.
This is going to be the next oceangate and I fully support it.
Why? I’ve sat in a self driving Tesla, with the attendant’s body rotated towards me while we chatted in Florida. What specifically is wrong?
It is not a roadster. A roadster is defined as an open-air, two-seat convertible.
This one is a hard-top super-coupe and I recommend calling it the "Cyberwedge"
lame
Tasteless crap.
Awesome, another technology we want to implement before we have the infrastructure to support it.
Exactly this... Which city will allow for a car they cannot chase with a patrol?
It would have been much better if it was a skateboard, tbh.
Not from the US, but I don't see political pushback on rocket launchers for police cars.
Can we get the original Dropbox hater guy to comment here too?
What has HN become - just endless anti-tech hate, downstream from idiotic TikTok politics.
Is it the moderation system that amplifies this nonsense here?
If those cold-air thrusters are getting commoditized, the real discussion here should be around what could be built around them. How to HACK them.
Reddit exists for this other nonsense pile on.
I'll bite. What do you see as applications of for commodity cold gas thrusters? Excluding rockets.