Turns out sometimes Elon Musk’s grandiose promises and timelines might come later than promised due to, not surprisingly, technical realities. That just might be the case with the promise from nearly a decade ago that a Tesla would drive itself from Los Angeles to New York.
In January, The Drive exclusively reported that a Tesla Model S drove itself 3,081 miles from LA to NYC with zero accidents, zero human interventions, and zero (meaningful, though some hilarious) issues. It wasn’t a stunt.
The watershed moment marks a turning point for autonomous cars and the evolution of the Cannonball Run.
The man behind the feat, Alex Roy, is infamous in the Cannonball Run community and deeply involved in the world of autonomous vehicles.
The Drive editor Byron Hurd, who reported the record, and Roy are finally ready to talk. We dive into how the story itself came together and how exclusive, real-time reporting on top-secret record attempts works along with the record itself.
Roy revealed how human errors cost hours, almost ruined the record, and how the entire attempt almost fell apart midway through the drive. We also get to hear about mishaps including leaving a man behind at a charging station, encountering a winter storm (while driving on all-season tires), and the evolution of the Cannonball Run itself.
The looming question of what does the fact that a Tesla drove itself from LA to NYC mean for the future of self-driving cars, whether enthusiasts should be concerned about their ability to drive in the future, and what comes next all get laid out by Roy.
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