[BonoboBoner]

But chasing the higher hanging fruits might allow for breakthroughs that you would not see if you only went for the low hanging fruits.

The range anxiety is less and less problematic with EV. The Tesla Roadster 2 already is said to have a range of more than 1.000 km. Add current research in the fields of solid state batteries and super capacitators and you have the possibility to reach those numbers even with less expensive versions of EV. German automakers already calculate that by 2026 electric engines will be cheaper and more capable than their ICE counterpart.

If you go for that easy middle ground like hybrid cars that you suggest, you limit yourself to the local maximum of that solution. Hybrid cars have the same maintenance cost as non hybrid cars and additionally the complexity of balancing both engines. The only saving in maintenance cost is by going full electric. In the same way you might only achieve certain breakthroughs by actually going for full autonomy even if it wont work perfectly for the next decades for all edge cases.

[dmix]

Bloomberg believes Teslas numbers are a little optimistic and claim it's not possible with "current" battery technology: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/tesla-s-newest-promises-break-th...

It doesn't mean Tesla won't do it. But it will be a big deal if they do.

[gvkv]

The choice is about releasing version 1.0 vs constantly adding features that are better suited for versions 2, 3, 4+. What can be done now, at reasonable cost and technology level? My position is that we could have a system right now that would alleviate traffic congestion and offer greater safety. Advancement on the harder problems comes with real-world experience in the field.

The doing is the learning.