Automobiles and Insurance U.K. vs U.S.

Last month, partner Mike Nelson, joined the PAVE (Partners for Automated Vehicle Education) virtual panel “Special Relationship: U.S. and U.K. Perspectives on AVs and Insurance”, for a conversation on AVs, insurance, and public policy both here and in the U.K. In this month’s Thoughts from the Drivers Seat, Mike summarizes the discussion and shares his thoughts on how data and transparency will play a role in determining risk transfer.

My Rented Tesla Was in An Accident. Now What?

Car accidents occur daily. That includes accidents in rental cars. But what happens when an EV is in an accident? How does the data captured by the car impact the insurance claim?

Does My Rental Come with Autopilot?

Many of the major rental car companies are now advertising that they have added EVs to their rental fleets. Head to Avis and select from a Telsa Model 3 or a Chevy Bolt. Enterprise offers standard and full-size hybrid vehicles as well as intermediate electric or electric luxury sedans, including (impressively) the Tesla Model S and Porsche Taycan. You can even book a ride in someone else’s EV through the car-sharing platform Turo.

Somebody’s Still Watching You, With Improvements: Tesla’s In-Cabin Camera

About a year ago, Partner Mike Nelson shared his initial thoughts on Tesla’s interior cabin camera as a tool for monitoring driver engagement. At the time, Mike noted that the cabin camera was an improvement to Tesla’s prior monitoring system that relied largely on haptics, and brought Tesla in line with many other OEMs that already were monitoring driver engagement using cabin cameras. Today, having logged many more miles with the technology in place, Mike has noticed improvements that also have improved his opinion of Tesla’s safety features. Watch the video to see what he has to say, from the driver’s seat of his Model Y.

Is A Privacy Rights Dispute Rightly Venued in Private Arbitration? Tesla Thinks So.

In a recent post, we explored how the move by EV manufacturers away from the traditional dealership sales model is disrupting not only how we buy cars but also the way we litigate disputes related to them. To recap, by selling directly rather than through a dealership, EV manufacturers remain in “contractual privity” with their consumers, which allows them to enforce contractual language requiring consumers to bring disputes with the manufacturer in arbitration (a private forum) rather than in court (a very public forum).

FSD Takes to the Back Roads at Highway Speeds

In an exclusive interview with CNBC this past week, Elon Musk predicted that Tesla will have a “Chat GPT moment” within the next year when millions of cars “suddenly ... will be able to drive themselves with no one.”

Whooooo Hit the Brakes?

The term “phantom braking” may conjure up images of ghosts and goblins, but it is hardly a seasonal phenomenon. It a technical sense, according to CMU Professor Phil Koopman as quoted by The Washington Post, phantom braking occurs when “the developers do not set the decision threshold properly for deciding when something is there versus a false alarm.” In a more basic sense, phantom braking is what happens when a car’s automated driving system suddenly and unexpectedly slams on the brakes because it incorrectly senses a collision hazard.

What’s Going On With FSD Beta?

To say Full Self-Driving Beta “has been in the news” would be a vast understatement. Tesla’s imprecisely-named driver assistance technology—as the website cautions, “currently enabled Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous”—has always received media attention, but between consumer class actions, legislative activity, Super Bowl commercials calling for regulators to ban it, and now a full-scale recall, FSD has received more than its usual coverage of late. Today, Mike Nelson tries to break it all down, from the driver’s seat of (what else?) his Tesla Model Y.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

A few weeks ago, Jalopnik published an article entitled “Video Shows Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ Absolutely Cannot Handle Snow.” The article links to video from a Detroit-based driver attempting to operate his Tesla in Full Self-Driving mode through a snowstorm, quickly revealing the system’s shortcomings in navigating inclement weather.

Tesla v. Rivian

Partner Mike Nelson got an early delivery from Santa this year—a shiny red Rivian pickup truck! Today, he shares some thoughts from the driver’s seats of both his Rivian and his Model Y, including how the two compare on delivery, performance, and swag.

Happy holidays!