Author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors. Co-host @TheAutonocast. Not sure how much more mobility innovation I can take. YMMV.
Joined November 2011
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In 2015 I decided on a whim to check out Tesla's battery swap station that was earning the company 9 figures in California ZEV credits, and found it wasn't real. Instead Tesla was using diesel generators to charge cars. Here's how this changed my life 🧵
This is my last post ever on this platform. I'm sad about what happened here, but the choice to deactivate was easy. I am close to matching my follower count here on Bluesky, and it's superior in every way. Life is just better without Elon Musk! Find me at niedermeyer dot io 🫡
The reality of driverless mobility is here, and it's time to reboot the conversation.
I'm thrilled to announce the Ride AI Summit, this April 2 at Neuehouse Hollywood. Hosted by myself and @binarybits, and sponsored by @Waymo.
See you there!
niedermeyer.io/2024/10/30/an…
I'm writing a book that will finally expose the decade-long deadly deception that props up of one of the world's largest fortunes. I expect the owner of this website won't be a fan. Follow me elsewhere for more updates.
niedermeyer.io/2024/10/15/el…
Since there's a lot of confusion on this website: if you don't feel safe putting your 96 year old grandma in the backseat with nobody behind the wheel, it's not "Full Self-Driving."
Hope this helps! And huge thanks to @waymo for an incredible day of safe driverless rides in SF!
ALT Yours truly and my amazing 96 year old grandma, in front of a Waymo robotaxi in San Francisco
ALT Grandma in the backseat of a moving Waymo robotaxi, with nobody in the driver's seat. Fully driverless!
ALT Grandma grinning after just getting out of the robotaxi. She wasn't sure if she wanted to ride when I first asked her, but she decided to go for it and had an absolute blast, as you can tell from her face here.
ALT The Waymo robotaxi, based on a Jaguar iPace. After riding all over SF in one of these, it is unambiguously one of the wonders of the technological world.
I'll be moderating a panel of cyclists (some of whom happen to work for @Waymo) about sharing the road with AVs in San Francisco at this conference next week. Come down, say hi, and check out the latest eBikes and scooters. Hope to see you there!
Micromobility America is happening next week (Oct 19-20) in the SF Bay Area. We’re looking for a few volunteers to help make sure the event runs smoothly in exchange for a free ticket. Get in touch if you want to go behind the scenes with us.
micromobility.io/contact
Just popping in here to remind you that this platform is garbage, and nobody should use it. From banning critics and throttling links to critical media, to the horrific tolerance of racism and CSAM, being here makes you complicit in all of it.
I spoke with @lizzieohreally of @Slate about my long, strange trip covering Tesla, from stumbling onto the battery swap story in 2015 to the latest range-faking scandal, and what I've learned along the way.
slate.com/podcasts/what-next…
Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick made countless billions off self-driving hype, but when their technology failed they stuck the blame on their employees and customers. Watch out, or you could be the next human to do time for a robot.
niedermeyer.io/2023/08/01/ru…
New blog post: last Friday Rafaela Vasquez pled guilty to endangerment, making her the first human to be held criminally responsible for a death caused by an autonomous vehicle. Needless to say, this is a troubling development.
niedermeyer.io/2023/08/01/r...
New, by me: Tesla's newly-uncovered range deception is just the tip of the iceberg in a decade-long ruse to exploit our car-brained desire for a fleet decarb solution that requires no actual change.
Elon Musk sold drivers on the myth that they could save the planet without changing their own habits. All they had to do was pay him. slate.trib.al/Y0qBEiZ
New blog post: I wrote about Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Andrej Karpathy's reactions to Oppenheimer, and their disturbing inability to understand the core of what the story is actually about at a very basic level
niedermeyer.io/2023/07/25/i-…
I've made Bluesky my post-Twitter home for two reasons: 1) lots of custom feed options (not just "algo" or "more algo"), and 2) custom domains for handles (my handle is niedermeyer.io, which is also my blog).
These are the features I want, and nobody else has 'em.
I have no plans to delete this account, but logging on here makes me sad and I have no desire to contribute to the success of this website and it's owner(s) by creating content here. Look for me at niedermeyer.io, on the World Wide Web and Bluesky.
"Who in their right mind would explore space with a man who can't keep a website running?" is a great question to ask at this juncture, but like cars and automated driving systems are safety critical systems as well.
He tried to build an automated manufacturing system for the Model 3 that would do away with humans, and instead they built two lines that didn't work and ended up hand-making cars in a tent. This all makes sense if you know your history benbellabooks.com/shop/ludic…
If you actually paid attention you know that Musk's main contributions to Tesla's success are extreme risk tolerance, a willingness to break laws/regulations, and the drive to squeeze workers and customers alike to their breaking point: benbellabooks.com/shop/ludic…
Moments like this always remind me of this classic.
ALT Paul Graham @paulg · Nov 16, 2022 It's remarkable how many people who've never run any kind of company think they know how to run a tech company better than someone who's run Tesla and SpaceX. Paul Graham @paulg · Nov 16, 2022 In both those companies, people die if the software doesn't work right. Do you really think he's not up to managing a social network?
Many such cases! Now that it's more obvious our boy isn't a genius, why not take another look at Tesla: benbellabooks.com/shop/ludic…
Went down the rabbithole by Googling and finding @Tweetermeyer's book on Tesla a few months ago. Couldn't unsee things from then on
Regardless of what happens here, I'm trying to do more writing than posting these days. Read along at niedermeyer.io
niedermeyer.io/2023/06/19/ge…