Elon Musk is Self-Aware

Elon Musk is Self-Aware
by Roger C. Lanctot on 08-09-2023 at 10:00 am

Elon Musk is Self Aware

“I think we’ll be better than human by the end of the year.” – Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla

Parsing the impact of the latest Tesla earnings call featuring CEO Elon Musk has become an eerie out-of-body experience. The comments of the CEO are simultaneously assessed in real time and in retrospect as they are being spoken. It is automotive… Read More


Safe Driving: FSD vs. V2X

Safe Driving: FSD vs. V2X
by Roger C. Lanctot on 02-22-2023 at 10:00 am

Safe Driving FSD vs. V2X

When it comes to competing with Elon Musk’s Tesla the automotive industry is, in many ways, its own worst enemy. For more than two decades the auto industry – in the U.S. and E.U. – has struggled to bring vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology to market – first as dedicated short range communications… Read More


Don’t Lie to Me

Don’t Lie to Me
by Roger C. Lanctot on 12-11-2022 at 6:00 pm

Dont Lie to Me

Some things just really rile me up. Mark Zuckerberg testifying before Congress. Bernie Madoff explaining his investment strategy. Elon Musk inveighing against restrictions on free speech. But there is a new candidate for boiling my blood – word of a potential merger of vehicle data aggregators Wejo and Otonomo.

These two… Read More


Musk: The Post-Truth Messiah

Musk: The Post-Truth Messiah
by Roger C. Lanctot on 11-06-2022 at 4:00 pm

Musk Post Truth Messiah

The hand-wringing over Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter began in earnest, Friday, as General Motors announced it would suspend advertising on the platform. Ford Motor Company, too, said it would take a step back.

The news of Musk’s completion of his Twitter acquisition completely eclipsed Mobileye’s hugely successful… Read More


Micron and Memory – Slamming on brakes after going off the cliff without skidmarks

Micron and Memory – Slamming on brakes after going off the cliff without skidmarks
by Robert Maire on 10-03-2022 at 10:00 am

Wiley Coyote Semiconductor Crash 2022 1

-Micron slams on the brakes of capacity & capex-
-But memory market is already over the cliff without skid marks
-It will likely take at least a year to sop up excess capacity
-Collateral impact on Samsung & others even more important

Micron hitting the brakes after memory market already impacts

Micron capped off an otherwise… Read More


What’s Wrong with Robotaxis?

What’s Wrong with Robotaxis?
by Roger C. Lanctot on 08-08-2022 at 6:00 am

Whats Wrong with Robotaxis

For some reason the obsession with robotaxis persists throughout the world and throughout the transportation industry. The collective conventional wisdom appears to be that getting rid of the human drivers of taxis and letting these vehicles freely operate presumably around the clock will save money and the environment.… Read More


Musk: Colossus of Roads, with Achilles’​ Heel

Musk: Colossus of Roads, with Achilles’​ Heel
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-23-2022 at 8:00 am

Elon Musk Achilles Heel 1

For Tesla, 2021 was an amazing year. A blindspot looms in 2022.

Critics cheered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for opening multiple investigations into fatal and near fatal Tesla crashes.  Legislators decried the de facto beta testing of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving beta on public roads. And in December,… Read More


LiDAR and the End of the Musk Marketing Masque

LiDAR and the End of the Musk Marketing Masque
by Roger C. Lanctot on 09-19-2021 at 6:00 am

LiDAR and the End of the Musk Marketing Masque

One of the key differentiating characteristics of companies working on autonomous vehicles is the willingness to explain or disclose the manner in which this technology works. Tesla and Mobileye have been standouts in the explainer category.  Companies like Waymo and Cruise have been less distinguished.

Tesla, though, … Read More


Tesla’s License to Kill

Tesla’s License to Kill
by Roger C. Lanctot on 04-04-2021 at 8:00 am

Tesla license to Kill

Even as Honda Motors puts a so-called Level 3 semi-autonomous vehicle on the road in Japan – 100 of them to be exact – the outrage grows over semi-autonomous vehicle tech requiring driver vigilance. Tesla Motors and General Motors have taken this plunge, creating a driving scenario where drivers – under certain circumstances … Read More


Elon Knows When You Crash

Elon Knows When You Crash
by Roger C. Lanctot on 02-21-2021 at 8:00 am

Elon Knows When You Crash

It’s true. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, knows when you crash your Tesla. He just isn’t obliged, in the U.S., to do anything about it. And he’s not alone.

Here it is, 2021 and buyers of cars in the U.S. can’t count on getting automatic crash notification (ACN) included in their next new car.  Even those cars equipped with ACN require

Read More