UBER CFO buys R2 after Autonomy+ test drive

[DCFC]

This is not a headline, this is marketing. Uber is investing up to 1.25 Billion Dollars into Rivian in the next five years. So, it's in the Uber CEO's best interest to market the R2. No different than any stock owner on WallStreetBets trying to pump a stock.

https://rivian.com/newsroom/article...deploy-up-to-50000-fully-autonomous-robotaxis

Agree it is marketing, but two things can be true at the same time. It can be true that the R2 is an excellent vehicle and he decided to get one after the test drive.

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[gerrylum]

Agree it is marketing, but two things can be true at the same time. It can be true that the R2 is an excellent vehicle and he decided to get one after the test drive.

It *could*, sure, but it's also fair for someone to retain a bit of healthy skepticism of such a vague post. I'd love it if they at least posted the route they took.

 

[Fmc]

If the ride was unimpressive the CFO would have marched back to his office and crunched some numbers. I am not saying this was not marketing but also the CFO did not have to comment on this ride if he did not want to.

 

[gerrylum]

If the ride was unimpressive the CFO would have marched back to his office and crunched some numbers. I am not saying this was not marketing but also the CFO did not have to comment on this ride if he did not want to.

Possibly, but being in marketing myself, there are DEFINITELY sometimes that's completely a marketing decision. Makes sense when a C-suite's tweet can negatively or positively affect share price. They don't just post without giving it thought. I would not be surprised if they at least ran the tweet by marketing first. It wouldn't be uncommon.

 

[NY_Rob]

This is not a headline, this is marketing.

100%, no question about it.

 

[shandering]

Just before autonomy day RJ went all over the news claiming that they drove several hours with their beta autonomy+ system with no intervention

When the actual drives came out, they could not go more than 5 minutes without an intervention and they had to use cheat routes to fake the appearance of the car driving.

The car was not supposed to turn right on red because it did not understand cars or traffic. It also only turned left at dotted lined intersections with protected lights. That means the car effectively did not understand traffic but took the "free" merge into the turning lane and then lane centered against the dotted line.

The only stuff the car actually did that actually required driving abilities (recognizing traffic lights and not turning right on red) the car was horrendously bad at

Even in the most rigged scenario they couldn't make the car go more than 5 minutes without intervention

 

[NinjaWrap]

At best I’m hoping it’s as good as FSD beta 10.0 in 2021. That’s not saying much.

 

[windblowlc]

Just before autonomy day RJ went all over the news claiming that they drove several hours with their beta autonomy+ system with no intervention

When the actual drives came out, they could not go more than 5 minutes without an intervention and they had to use cheat routes to fake the appearance of the car driving.

The car was not supposed to turn right on red because it did not understand cars or traffic. It also only turned left at dotted lined intersections with protected lights. That means the car effectively did not understand traffic but took the "free" merge into the turning lane and then lane centered against the dotted line.

The only stuff the car actually did that actually required driving abilities (recognizing traffic lights and not turning right on red) the car was horrendously bad at

Even in the most rigged scenario they couldn't make the car go more than 5 minutes without intervention

I think you misspelled your username

 

[captainjp]

Just before autonomy day RJ went all over the news claiming that they drove several hours with their beta autonomy+ system with no intervention

When the actual drives came out, they could not go more than 5 minutes without an intervention and they had to use cheat routes to fake the appearance of the car driving.

The car was not supposed to turn right on red because it did not understand cars or traffic. It also only turned left at dotted lined intersections with protected lights. That means the car effectively did not understand traffic but took the "free" merge into the turning lane and then lane centered against the dotted line.

The only stuff the car actually did that actually required driving abilities (recognizing traffic lights and not turning right on red) the car was horrendously bad at

Even in the most rigged scenario they couldn't make the car go more than 5 minutes without intervention

This statement is completely fabricated.

 

[Eric9610]

I just did 70 miles on the 405 today in UHF and did not have to take control once while on the 405.

 

[carsly]

Agree it is marketing, but two things can be true at the same time. It can be true that the R2 is an excellent vehicle and he decided to get one after the test drive.

Sure. It's also possible this never happened.

As a marketing stunt, it wasn't very good. What they should have done is livestreamed it, because it's 2026 and these things are possible. No facts/data/evidence to support the claim made by Uber's CFO so I treat it as such.

Also quite possible there are reasons why (1) it wasn't livestreamed and (2) it wasn't recorded end to end and shared unedited.

 

[Mos Eisley]

 

[captainjp]

I just did 70 miles on the 405 today in UHF and did not have to take control once while on the 405.

Similar experience. NYC to the Adirondacks and back with ZERO interventions. Also navigated local roads using UHF a bunch and performance was great. The system does occasionally get confused by lanes ending or splitting, but I know to expect and anticipate taking over.

 

[DCFC]

This video showing a demo drive with autonomy+ from 7 months ago. It did pretty well in my opinion. There was a glitch where it slowed down for a speed hump at a pedestrian crossing but did not speed back up. Early development days and it's certainly been worked on extensively since.

 

[Pablolibre]

Not simple during commute times

Outside of commutes, it's far simpler than most of the NE corridor.

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