TheaterFire

[Alex Roy] "We just set the 1st Fully Autonomous, ZERO-Intervention Cannonball Run Record from LA-NY. In the middle of WINTER, through extreme cold, snow, ice, slush & rain, FSD drove 100% of the 3081 miles of our journey. 58 hrs, 22 min non-stop, except for charging."

Posted by TylerFortier_Photo@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 117 comments

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117 Comments

Whole-Scene-689@reddit

lol "except for charging". I ran a marathon last week (except stopping for meals and sleep).
View on Reddit #76815297

bandito12452@reddit

No car can drive coast to coast without refueling
View on Reddit #76817959

Michael_South_Aust@reddit

No STOCK production car could manage it. But a quick "back of the envelope" suggests it's very much possible by retrofitting even something as mainstream as a Corolla Hybrid.
View on Reddit #77432104

leedle1234@reddit

Wonder if anyone has tried a cannonball run doing the road equivalent of aerial refueling.
View on Reddit #76818935

rex8499@reddit

I recall reading somewhere that people practiced this to see if it was feasible, and it was messy, slow, risky, and just proved not to be feasible compared to just stopping and fueling and getting back to high speed.
View on Reddit #76831610

speedwayryan@reddit

These guys could do it: https://youtu.be/mE4Y7swUZyw
View on Reddit #76821592

xrelaht@reddit

That sounds terrifying. Better to get a diesel Cruze and install a 55 gallon auxiliary fuel tank.
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Whole-Scene-689@reddit

but the time to refuel counts.
View on Reddit #76818056

machetemonkey@reddit

The sentence structure is slightly confusing, but I believe the charging time is counted in the total record time. The “except for charging” part just refers to “non-stop (except for charging),” not “58 hours 22 minutes (except for charging)”
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Live-Habit-6115@reddit

In ultra marathons they do stop to eat and sleep 
View on Reddit #76995413

assblast420@reddit

Is it really a Cannonball Run if you're just going what appears to be at or below the speed limit? It's more of a road trip at that point.
View on Reddit #76796359

Slideways@reddit

"Cannonball" implies nonstop.
View on Reddit #76797615

degggendorf@reddit

By that definition, has anyone ever actually done it?
View on Reddit #76810845

Slideways@reddit

Sorry, I meant without stopping to sleep. People use the term "cannonball" to mean they drove straight through over a long distance without stopping to sleep.
View on Reddit #76811199

MichiganCarNut@reddit

puh leez. it's not a cannonball without the speeding aspect
View on Reddit #76811859

jonnyp11@reddit

Eh, technically the goal is just going A to B as fast as possible. In ICE speeding shaves time. In EVs going faster reduces efficiency so much that going the speed limit may actually be faster.
View on Reddit #76826371

hutacars@reddit

Even in an EV, speeding is still faster, *if* fast chargers are conveniently placed wherever you need them. Given an EV can recharge at 500-1000 MPH, any speed you can get as close to that will be quickest. Let's say driving 50 MPH gets you 500 miles of range 10-80%, and driving 100 MPH gets you just 100 miles 10-80%-- a fifth as much. Let's say you also have a mediocre charge curve such that 10-80% takes 30 minutes. Let's say the total drive distance is 2000 miles (and that you set off with only 80% to keep the math easy). This is basically the worst case scenario for speeding. And yet: 50 MPH: 40 hours of driving + (3 charges * 30 min) = **41.5 hours** 100 MPH: 20 hours of driving + (19 charges * 30 min) = **29.5 hours** And the distance between those numbers only becomes greater with a better charging curve, or more speed.
View on Reddit #76924581

DiscoLives4ever@reddit

This made me ask Gemini to calculate the optimal speed for my Hummer assuming optional charging station, no elevation changes, and perfect weather for a 2000 mile run. It came back with 89.4 mph, but also this nugget of a quote: "Because the Hummer EV has the aerodynamic profile of a billboard and a massive 170kWh (usable) battery, its efficiency drops off a cliff at high speeds."
View on Reddit #77314073

hutacars@reddit

Hah, that's hilarious. But it also didn't make sense to me-- intuitively, the optimal speed should be where energy consumption per unit of time equals what the charger can replenish per unit of time. So I asked it your same question to start, and got back a speed of 92 MPH. So then I asked it "wouldn't the optimal speed be the one at which its consumption per unit of time matches what the charger can replenish per unit of time, accounting for charge tapering but NOT accounting for any overhead?" and got back 117 MPH, because it's apparently at this speed that consumption is 248 kW, and at 54% SoC the recharge rate would also drop to 248 kW. Going faster would require using more energy, which would mean unplugging sooner, which would increase the trip length. Fun exercise, for sure.
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MRDR1NL@reddit

Thanks for the calculation. I can imagine finding a working fast charger at the moment you need it for 19 times is a lot more risky than just 3 times.
View on Reddit #76932730

hutacars@reddit

Yup, hence the “*if* fast chargers are conveniently placed wherever you need them” caveat. Maybe one day. But I just wanted to highlight the math.
View on Reddit #76941800

twiddlingbits@reddit

I disagree, it depends on battery depletion vs speed. If it is linear aka 120 mph for an hour on a charge vs 2 hours at 60 then by the time the slower car gets there the faster car has charged and it making miles while the slow car charges. So in 3 hours the faster can has gone 240 miles and the slower can 120. If you can figure out the perfect spot when the time and depletion are optimal then you set the cruise at that speed and take a nap. Of course you also have to plan stops at SuperCharger locations so that screws with the optimal calculations. Hammer down as hard as you can is the Cannonball idea,so having to stop at specific spots to charge you really cannot do that. A lot of the Cannonball cars were modified with huge gas tanks so only 2-3 fill ups were needed.
View on Reddit #76947921

ryzenguy111@reddit

Yeah, the current EV cannonball record was in a Porsche Taycan and the average speed was 72mph IIRC
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Boomz_N_Bladez@reddit

This is a very good point. Charging doesn't happen quickly like filling the tank with gas... Even with super charging stations. Efficiency is key for where EV tech currently is.
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ryzenguy111@reddit

Yeah, the current EV cannonball record was in a Porsche Taycan and the average speed was 72mph IIRC
View on Reddit #76844610

Slideways@reddit

People use it all the time to mean covering a lot of ground on the highway. [Here's one example.](https://www.facebook.com/DavidFreiburger/posts/i-am-on-my-least-planned-road-trip-ever-just-hopped-in-the-v10-and-headed-east-o/1198935754922600/)
View on Reddit #76815711

Ravio11i@reddit

people use "literally" to mean "figuratively" all the time too, doesn't mean it's right.
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Slideways@reddit

Linguistically, that does make it right.
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waka_flocculonodular@reddit

They should be using it for the exact run that Alex Roy and others have fone
View on Reddit #76869924

Foxbatt@reddit

The solo record is allegedly [25h 55 min](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_Run_challenge) during Covid: >In early June 2020, as reported by Road & Track, Fred Ashmore allegedly completed a solo run in 25 hours and 55 minutes.[29] The claim was cast into doubt by Road & Track after investigation showed the evidence to support the claim to be doctored.[30] The verified solo record is 27h 16 min. >In August 2024, Las Vegas native Chris Stowell would complete a solo run of 27 hours and 16 minutes in a 2015 BMW 535d
View on Reddit #76820510

twiddlingbits@reddit

Lots of people have done it, usually a team of two drivers.
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degggendorf@reddit

Switching drivers while in motion, carrying enough gas to never stop either? Or did they refuel while in motion??
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twiddlingbits@reddit

You have to refuel that’s a given but it’s pit stop just a few minutes not a long stop of several hours. Pit stops are OK by the Cannonball rules. But every one of them is quick as possible. Driver changes means pulling over to the side and 15 seconds later rolling with a new driver.
View on Reddit #76963651

degggendorf@reddit

> it’s pit stop just a few minutes not a long stop of several hours. Right...a short stop. That's not non-stop.
View on Reddit #76965845

twiddlingbits@reddit

Non-Stop is specifically qualified in the Cannonball rules to exclude anything but SHORT fuel stops. If you can get food while fueling then cool if not you are going to be hungry. The Tesla recharge stops clearly violate the terms and sprit of the rules.
View on Reddit #76996332

mantenner@reddit

It's a start. If there's no prior record, it's good enough. Now they'll start improving it and getting faster.
View on Reddit #76824065

MRDR1NL@reddit

There are prior records of EV cannonball runs. They all drive at the speed limit. It is more efficient that way. Otherwise they'd have to charge more often, which would make the total trip slower.
View on Reddit #76831886

MotelSans17@reddit

Record is 39 hours, in a Porsche Taycan, including charging. They had to be pushing the speed limit a few times.
View on Reddit #76938999

hutacars@reddit

Charging happens at 500+ MPH, which is faster than they'll ever drive. The only reason they have to drive slowly is because chargers are still *relatively* scarce, and not always located immediately off the interstate. If they could be guaranteed a working 350kW charger off any exit they might pull off of, it would be faster to speed as much as possible, charge until the curve starts to dip, then carry on speeding. Some example math [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/1qmr486/alex_roy_we_just_set_the_1st_fully_autonomous/o1zbjgi/).
View on Reddit #76924887

Salman94157@reddit

Yeah I think the point was proving hands off reliability more than chasing a fast time, even if that makes the record feel weird. A lot of places pushing autonomy like what we see in the UAE seem way more focused on consistency and edge cases than speed, so maybe this was aiming at that kind of benchmark, does that make sense?
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time_to_reset@reddit

I still consider it a Cannonball Run. It's about setting the first time for this type of vehicle. This happens to be what's possible today.
View on Reddit #76808059

rather_be_redditing@reddit

This is like a power lifter setting the deadlift record at 1kg over the current records so they can break it 30 more times over the next 5 years.
View on Reddit #76822371

dayvieee@reddit

Isn’t that with most sports WR? If the individual knows they can beat the current record without breaking a sweat why grab 1 gold when you can grab 5 consecutive golds?
View on Reddit #76885437

phr3dly@reddit

I mean, [that is a thing](https://www.benchwarmers.ie/real-reason-why-mondo-duplantis-only-improves-his-world-record-1cm-at-a-time/281481/)
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TheMauveHand@reddit

That would be one thing but not counting charging? Wtf? 
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blainestang@reddit

The time includes charging. They’re saying they didn’t stop except for charging.
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Jigagug@reddit

Yes, Cannonball has dozens of sub-categories and in the end it is all about pace. Now that there is a time, someone will attempt to do it faster.
View on Reddit #76854060

MRDR1NL@reddit

Going faster is slower with EVs. Because you need to charge more often. The sweetspot is around the speed limit.
View on Reddit #76831735

degggendorf@reddit

Records have to start somewhere. If you think it's too slow, then you go break it. Should be an easy win for you.
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R_V_Z@reddit

I mean, good? If somebody tried to tell a car to autonomously do a Cannonball it should drive them to the nearest police station.
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ClosetBronydom@reddit

Yeah I think cannonball run is a misnomer here. It's like champagne that isn't from the right region of France, this is just a sparkling road trip
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ow_windowmaker@reddit

Alex you're 65 years old, clinging to a NYC to LA drive like some great accomplishment is getting pathetic.
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NDALLASFORTY@reddit

Record? I've done LA - NY 39 hours. In an 18-wheeler. True story.
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moldy912@reddit

Considering FSD is afraid to go over the speed now, doing it first is cool but I don’t think this will catch on.
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nova1475369@reddit

Strange, my recent road trip was entirely FSD, I set it to max and it drove 15+ over speed limits. 85 mph on a 65-70
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canikony@reddit

FSD frustrates me to no end that it drives so slow lol.
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Nxtinventor@reddit

Non-stop, except for the times we stopped.
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Live-Habit-6115@reddit

Well...yeah? That's how it works. You'd need to stop to fill up gas in an ICE car too. It'd still be non-stop
View on Reddit #76995343

Teddy2Sweaty@reddit

Neat. The speed records is increasingly risky to beat. I’d like to do the drive non-stop, and beat the record Car and Driver established in 1982.
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1_800_UNICORN@reddit

[It’s been beaten a number of times since 1982. Most recently during the peak of the pandemic, taking advantage of the massively reduced traffic.](https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/g35016829/cannonball-run-cross-country-records/)
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Teddy2Sweaty@reddit

[The Car and Driver attempt](https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15140960/the-nonstop-cross-country-volkswagen-jetta-voyage-archived-feature/) used a new Jetta Diesel provided by VWoA, and the goal was to drive the distance without stopping. As far as I can tell from a quick scan of the article (again), every one of those involved at least one fuel stop and those are speed/time records. I'm talking leave New York and not stopping until you get to Redondo Beach. Different challenge, different logistics.
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xrelaht@reddit

What vehicle has a 2800 mile range?
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hutacars@reddit

Aging Wheels had the right idea... just need to add a trailer with a few *more* battery packs.
View on Reddit #76925046

Teddy2Sweaty@reddit

With a big enough tank or tanks, any vehicle could conceivably do it, but then you have to take safety into consideration. The A8 in that article might have done it with the boat tanks in the trunk if it were a Diesel, but the author was so fixated on the ethics of making the run during COVID that it wasn’t mentioned, and with their average speed, I doubt those tanks would’ve been enough.
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xrelaht@reddit

You could do it by adding a 55 gallon tank to a diesel Chevy Cruze, but that’s a lot of extra fuel, adding both weight and potential danger.
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R1TT3R@reddit

One with an extra fuel cell.
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Chrispy3499@reddit

I think that, while a cool concept, the people who try to drive at stupid speeds and fake out police are really just asking to cause a massive accident one day (if they haven't already). I think the discourse around the record from a speed perspective is reckless.
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Salman94157@reddit

Beating the old record feels more about endurance and reliability now, and stuff I have seen from places like the UAE shows how testing in harsh conditions pushes better sensor backups and charging uptime, which seems relevant for a long haul autonomous run. Curious what route you would even choose to balance weather and charging stops?
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Teddy2Sweaty@reddit

In the case of a non-stop drive, it all comes down to the rules. Does "non-stop" mean you don't stop for fuel, food, bathroom breaks, etc., or does it mean the vehicle can't get stuck in traffic. I'm not considering challenging this FSD, EV record.
View on Reddit #76844812

spyderman720@reddit

Data and video coming soon? Why claim you did something without showing proof. Terrible time regardless.
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cock________________@reddit

it’s not about the time, it’s that it was done entirely with FSD. 
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spyderman720@reddit

I mean if ur gonna call it a a cannonball run the time matters, thats the whole point. If it even was done.
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cock________________@reddit

well considering it’s been the only one, it has the best time. happy?
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Understanding-Fair@reddit

It's an interesting milestone, but that's about it.
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aftonone@reddit

Not a cannonball. And why not include charge times? It’s kinda important.
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Bonerchill@reddit

Who’s the we? Sounds like the car did the work.
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munche@reddit

The car is incapable of doing work, which is why the driver is legally responsible for everything the car does and also used as the safety system to watch the car the entire time. The fact that so many people talk about Teslas "driving themselves" when Tesla says in their big disclaimer and all their government filings that the car can't drive itself and you need to be operating it at all times is super distressing. I get that the whole pitch is wink wink it's not really you driving but that's why people keep dying thinking this system can actually drive itself.
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NaGaBa@reddit

It's only Alex Roy, a guy who held the overall cannonball record in a BMW M5 and wrote a book about it.
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Bonerchill@reddit

A guy who co-drove the overall record. Now a guy who was driven to the autonomous record.
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mopar39426ml@reddit

>A guy who co-drove the overall record. It was quite literally his car that did it. He drove it.
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Bonerchill@reddit

No one can drive that many hours by themselves. Ergo, co-drove. Just like any Le Mans team. It doesn’t detract from the title, just acknowledges it was a team effort.
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NaGaBa@reddit

I dare you to Google still cannonball runs. Then I dare you to come back and let us know you were mistaken
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Bonerchill@reddit

you obviously care about people doing stupid shit more than i do and i concede the point
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NaGaBa@reddit

Yeah, and I'll bet your interests are all humanitarian and Mother Theresa-like
View on Reddit #76878616

Perisharino@reddit

Yeah no big deal just the guy who is responsible for inspiring the modern runners and writing the literal book on it
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Bonerchill@reddit

People have been trying to get from A to B faster than each other since an accurate form of timekeeping was established. The logistics are impressive, don’t get me wrong.
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Salman94157@reddit

From what I’ve seen, the car does the driving but the humans handle planning, charging, monitoring, and edge cases, so it’s still a we. Even in places pushing autonomy hard like the UAE, the takeaway seems to be that ops teams matter as much as the software, right?
View on Reddit #76839774

IamaFunGuy@reddit

A robot drove across the country? Who cares.
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CorrectCombination11@reddit

I want 18-wheelers to do this. This will increase profits for the companies which I am a shareholder of.
View on Reddit #76802288

Head_Duty5440@reddit

And destroy a lot of jobs! Hooray shareholders! Burn it all down wahooooo!
View on Reddit #76816663

willpc14@reddit

Calculators and computers took peoples jobs too. So did automating the loop. Technology evolves, new sectors are created, and people find new jobs. This is nothing new.
View on Reddit #76818691

_pcakes@reddit

I don't see evidence that people are going to get better jobs as a result of AI taking theirs. more likely people will go work doordash and shit
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Drzhivago138@reddit

OTR trucking is notoriously understaffed.
View on Reddit #76823176

CorrectCombination11@reddit

We freed up those workers to go work other jobs, decreased traffic fatalities, speed up warehouses and industry. People, who don't like change, wants us to go back to the 1950s.
View on Reddit #76817903

markeydarkey2@reddit

Level 2 systems are not fully autonomous, this result does not really mean anything.
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turb0_encapsulator@reddit

sad that Alex Roy has become a Tesla fanboy.
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Innocent-Bystander94@reddit

Teslas are the best EVs by a wide margin. Why is that sad?
View on Reddit #76830617

MRDR1NL@reddit

Because he's engaging in Teslas lie that the car can drive itself. "Full Self Driving" is a misleading name and the quote here seems to amplify that instead of correcting it. It doesn't drive itself fully. It still needs constant driver attention.
View on Reddit #76832116

jesusrambo@reddit

Dunno bud, mine seems to drive itself all over Stay mad and manually driving lmao
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cock________________@reddit

This is actually super cool, and a lot of commenters are missing the fact that it was done entirely with FSD. And the non-stop portion is referencing the use of FSD non-stop, not that the vehicle was traveling non-stop, lol. 
View on Reddit #76864479

hawksdiesel@reddit

So road trip?
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raptorboy@reddit

Richard Rawlins and Dennis Collin’s have the real record
View on Reddit #76804628

NaGaBa@reddit

Are you stuck in 20 years ago?
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raptorboy@reddit

These guys did it ya dumb ass
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braytag@reddit

"Allegedly"
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Carfr33k@reddit

Alex Roy is a goon.
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Salman94157@reddit

I’m not a fanboy, but long cold weather autonomy miles are the kind of boring validation places like the UAE have been pushing with stricter real world testing, so it seems less random than pure hype.
View on Reddit #76840714

GimmeUrBusch@reddit

Matt Farah's friendship with Roy must be at risk right now.
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-Suzuka-@reddit

100%... I am 100% doubtful of that claim.
View on Reddit #76820493

ManufacturerBest2758@reddit

Doubtful
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durrtyurr@reddit

Why is that doubtful? It's slow as hell, and the only thing I can think of that would really need human intervention is pulling into the charging stations.
View on Reddit #76799852

ManufacturerBest2758@reddit

Why would you believe anything Tesla says?
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durrtyurr@reddit

Because this wasn't Tesla doing the run? Why even ask the question?
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ManufacturerBest2758@reddit

This is clearly Tesla..? Did you read the caption or follow the link?
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durrtyurr@reddit

The car itself is a Tesla, the run was not done by Tesla. There is a huge difference there.
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ManufacturerBest2758@reddit

Okay. Why would you believe anything a guy doing PR for Tesla, whose profile is full of PR for Tesla, says?
View on Reddit #76801746

durrtyurr@reddit

Alex Roy has been in the autonomous driving business for many years now, achieved his fame/infamy for breaking the cannonball record, and Tesla has the most famous "autonomous" driving feature (although MB is the only make currently certified for level 4 autonomy, in extremely limited geographic areas and under specific weather conditions). It all makes perfect sense when you look at it through that lens. At the end of the day, there are so few companies that either do or claim to do this one specific thing (autonomous driving) that setting a record in one will get you called a shill for that company no matter what.
View on Reddit #76810032