Chinese Automaker Launches Remote-Control Family Car 130
cylonlover writes "When we think of remote control cars, we generally think of scaled-down vehicles that can easily get caught up underfoot. Not so Chinese automaker BYD, which has upsized the remote control car with the release of its Su Rui model in China. The mid-size family saloon that seats five includes Remote Driving Control technology that allows the driver to get out of the car and drive it using the included remote control 'key.'"
Saloon? (Score:2)
Does it come with a spittoon and those rickety, swinging wooden doors?
Re:Saloon? (Score:2)
Re:Saloon? (Score:2)
Re:Saloon? (Score:1)
Wouldn't a string of hookers in the back be more useful?
Sedan (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sedan (Score:5, Funny)
"Saloon" is a term used in some English-speaking countries for what people in other English-speaking countries call a "sedan": a passenger automobile with four doors.
Those of us in the United States don't consider the English "English Speaking". Saloon is where you go to toss back a few after a hard day of work. Confusing a car with a place to get hammered after work may explain why the English drive on the wrong side of the road.
Re:Sedan (Score:1, Funny)
> Those of us in the United States don't consider the English "English Speaking".
Look in the mirror as the rest of the world often have that opinion of the USA, e.g:
Football = In 99.9% of the world a game involving a round ball being kicked around... in USA - doh!!!
Bathroom = In 99.9% of the world a room where you go to shower, wash with water.... in USA room where you go empty your body of fluids etc - doh!
You are welcome to stick to "American English", meanwhile the rest of global world will continue to use "International English" which incidently has origins in "English English".
It's just that America decided to go off and do more of it's own thing, when you guys feel like rejoining the party please let the rest of the world know. However rather than joining the rest of the world by using the correct word for football (rather than soccer), you might want to start with metric measurements, e.g. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17350-nasa-criticised-for-sticking-to-imperial-units.html [slashdot.org]">so NASA don't loose more rockets due to imperial units.... /sarcasm ;-) [note: pointed out as us Europeans know that you have problems spotting it at times.... just kidding I do have lots of US friends but those are folks with passports. I would suggest getting yourself one...!]
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
Do note that "it's own thing" is a mistake in both types of English.
Or to summarize (Score:2)
Americans... doh!!!
Mind you, I am siding with the Brits, drinkers of warm beer. But at least their beer has some taste.
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
>greentexting on slashdot
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Testing...
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
Your last paragraph made me realize that I have a very lose grip on the English language. Actually, not really, but your blatant misuse of such a simple word by such an obvious language nazi has me absolutely losing my shit.
Fixed it for you.
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
That was sarcasm, Sheldon. Notice that he used both "lose" and "loose" incorrectly? Pretty obvious that it was deliberate.
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
Wow. Ouch. Oh my. That really puts us in our place. Not. Now I have to go to the bathroom and take a dump during halftime of the NFL football game. Jets vs Panthers. Great stuff.
You guys got nothing worth going back to except some nice beers. Glad the Frogs/Dutch people bought that Bud swill off our hands.
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Bathroom = In 99.9% of the world a room where you go to shower, wash with water.... in USA room where you go empty your body of fluids etc
Wrong. American bathrooms have bath tubs, showers, sinks, and toilets. When there's no tub or shower (as in a restaraunt) it's not called a bathroom, it's called a rest room. Why it's called that I don't know. In Britain it's called a "loo", silly sounding slang word. I wonder where it came from. Here there are also other slang words for bathroom/rest room: the john, the head (a navy reference), the can (a prison reference), and many more.
Before the automobile, people would carry trunks (large wooden boxes) on their carriages. When the automobile came along, the trunk stayed... but for some inexplicable reason you insist on calling it a "boot". Where the hell did that come from?
"Hood" (American) and "Bonnet" (British) are both silly names for an engine cowling.
so NASA don't loose more rockets due to imperial units
Well, if you don't loose [reference.com] the rockets they can't leave the launch pad, now can they?
America decided to go off and do more of it's own thing
We always go off and do more of "it is" own thing.
As to metric, most packaging has both imperial and metric markings here.
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
OK limey POMs, roll yourself up in a dooner (what, you don't know what a dooner is, darn, I thought the rest of the world spoke only POMlish?) and hide under the bed, cause the rest of the world all started with one or another of the various Britishes from one of the wide variety of types of spoken English on that tiny little island. But we have all GROWN UP, unlike you poor sodden wrecks. English, International English as you want to term it, is not the property of England, India, South Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Australia, New Zealand or even Guam or Papua New Guinea (where they speak a pidgin of English that you probably couldn't understand any better that you can understand broad Kentish-- just a guess that oneBTW). In fact international English doesn't really exist at all, it was a failed attempt by Americans and British English teachers to make something that would be teachable as "English" without the stupiud shite you have stuffed into this discussion.
So, stuff it limey
Bloody hell
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
Oh do be silent (english) shut the hell up (american english)
Shut the fuck up (Australian English)
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
STFU (Internet English)
Actually, we Americans do in fact sound like Austrailians when telling you "oh do be silent". Well, without the funny accent... we have our own funny accents.
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
Saloon is where you go to toss back a few after a hard day of work.
Seriously? If I told my friends we were going to the "saloon" for drinks they'd laugh and tell me to stop watching bad Italian westerns.
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Saloon is where you go to toss back a few after a hard day of work.
Seriously? If I told my friends we were going to the "saloon" for drinks they'd laugh and tell me to stop watching bad Italian westerns.
I live in a Wild West town in the 19th century, you insensitive clod!
Er, anyway, this "remote control car" idea isn't that big a deal in technological terms. I'm pretty sure that car manufacturers *could* technically have done this 20 years ago if it had been considered a good idea. I suspect it's more reflective of a cultural difference between China and other markets.
I must admit I was going to jokingly say "What could possibly go wrong?" due to theft and safety concerns, but the fact it's limited to 2 MPH(!) somewhat reduces these issues, particularly the latter.
Yah (Score:2)
And Detroit could have made compact fuel efficient cars to 20 years before the Japanese introduced them. How is Detroit doing anyway, still a hot bed of technology development and the beating heart of American industrial might?
First the Chinese made cars that were crap, then they made them not so good but very cheap, now they are adding gadgets while still being dirt cheap. Next step? Bye bye Detroit. Japan had to always keep America at peace to keep its protection from China. Who does China need protection from? They can flood the west with cheap cars and no need to buy shares in American companies so some western workers can remain employed.
Be afraid, the west never fully recovered from the asian tigers like Japan and Korea. And those are tiny kittens compared to China. It might well show the world why going "here kitty kitty" to a Tiger is not a survival strategy.
Re:Yah (Score:2)
But although it would impress many people (because it's never been done commercially in the West) having a remote controllable car *in itself* isn't anything that's technologically cutting edge. Remote control systems have been negligible-cost commodity items for years now, and (especially) with any car that's built around drive-by-wire, it should be trivial- in the scheme of things- to connect the two. If that was all there was to it, the traditional market leaders *could* have done it years ago. That's not Western arrogance, nor intended to demean the Chinese effort (I'm sure it was equally as easy for them to do this). It's merely an observation that raises the (more interesting) question as to *why* it hasn't been done commercially beforehand when it has likely been technologically possible for quite some time now.
Fear of tort liability (Score:2)
the (more interesting) question as to *why* it hasn't been done commercially beforehand when it has likely been technologically possible for quite some time now
Answer: The fear of tort liability that pervades the U.S. consumer products market.
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
It's so you can drive the kids off a cliff or into a lake without personal risk.
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Of Spain.
By an Italian director.
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
They aren't called pallella westerns.
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Around Almeria, according to friends of mine who've studied there. Wikipedia agrees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almeria#Geography [wikipedia.org]
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Before Prohibition, there were no bars, taverns, or pubs in the US; there were saloons. No respectable woman would step foot in one. It wasn't just "bad Italian westerns," any western that didn't have a saloon wasn't very accurate (but then again, how many outhouses do you see in old westerns?)
Prohibition closed the saloons, and speakeasies opened. Unlike saloons, women did indeed go there. Before prohibition, the few women who drank did so in secret.
After prohibition, we had bars, pubs, and taverns. This bit of history was imparted to me by my late grandmother, born in 1903 and died 2003. She was a young woman during prohibition.
And actually, there's a salloon here in Springfield. [illinoistimes.com]
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
In some parts of the world they even race saloon cars. (And its not boring because they have a variety of corners on the track, unlike NASCAR oval tracks.
IMHO the best saloon car race in the world is at Bathurst, NSW , Australia in October, 1000KM around Mt Panorama in V8 Fords and Holdens.
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
Wagon station spelled backwards.
Re:Sedan (Score:3)
Traditionally, it was the wagon used to get people to and from a train station. Brits call it an estate; this is probably similarly linked to their driving problem.
Also, a 2-door station wagon is called a "shooting brake" for similar historical reasons: a brake was a light wagon used to break in horses; a shooting brake was a variant used to go hunting.
CAFE backfired (Score:2)
Then what the hell is a station wagon?
Something that U.S. automakers phased out in favor of a minivan due to less strict fuel economy requirements for vehicles classified as "trucks" than for vehicles classified as "cars".
A wagon pulled by a (train/bus?) station?
No more than a Volkswagen is a wagon pulled by folks.
Re:Sedan (Score:2)
A station wagon is like a 4 door hatchback but with the roof full height all the way to the back rather than sloping. Families used to have them before SUV's were invented. Unlike an SUV they got about the same mileage as a similar size sedan. (Unless you had a roof rack with the dog tied too it.
Re:Sedan (Score:1)
Re:Saloon? (Score:2)
Does it come with a spittoon and those rickety, swinging wooden doors?
Saloon also means sedan (car) [wikipedia.org] in Britain and Australia.
Re:Saloon? (Score:4, Informative)
Saloon also means sedan (car) [wikipedia.org] in Britain and Australia.
Just Britain. No one says "saloon" in Australia; Australians say "sedan".
Re:Saloon? (Score:2)
Nah cobber, its UTE mate, or paddock basher. Don't know what them fuckin sedans are, unless it my cousins VP!
Re:Saloon? (Score:2)
What is this crazy moon-man language with which you speak?
Re:Saloon? (Score:1)
Re:Saloon? (Score:2)
Does it come with a spittoon and those rickety, swinging wooden doors?
Your sophistication amazes me
attach seat on top of car and drive that shit (Score:0, Funny)
Re:attach seat on top of car and drive that shit (Score:2)
ya dog u know what im saying
Fa Shizzle
Yeah well (Score:1)
Just keep it off the bridges [bbc.co.uk]
Warren Buffett Owns Shares of BYD (Score:1)
Warren Buffett Owns 10% of that BYD.
Re:Warren Buffett Owns Shares of BYD (Score:1)
http://www.google.com/finance?q=HKG%3A1211&hl=en&gl=us [google.com]
Re:Warren Buffett Owns Shares of BYD (Score:2)
ALL is lost!
Context is Important [penny-arcade.com]
thinking of bumping someone off? (Score:3, Funny)
So no more need for a brick on the accelerator
Re:thinking of bumping someone off? (Score:0)
Why yes, I think I would like to purchase your new Chappaquiddick sedan.
Legality? (Score:3)
I wonder if this is legal in the USA. I suppose that's not an issue, since it's presumably only available in China.
I live in China. These guys are already the worst drivers in the world. I wonder how many people they'll injure with remote controlled cars?
On the other hand, they are truly horrendous drivers (as mentioned), and they don't know how to back up (that's a gross generalization, but it's mostly true). Chinese drivers regularly make backing into a parking space a 10 point maneuver. Just maybe this thing can make them better (quicker) at parking at the Ikea or Metro.
Re:Legality? (Score:4, Funny)
we know how to back up, we back up on the highway all the time whenever we miss an exit.
Re:Legality? (Score:1)
I bet they're just screaming for a Baidu self driving car.
Guess you are right (Score:1)
I was going to say they knew how to parallel park quite well. But you said they can't back up, which is I guess why these Chinese parallel park the fast way [vimeo.com] instead...
Re:There are no good drivers in China (Score:2)
That would imply American drivers were actually any good.....
Re:Legality? (Score:1)
Re:Legality? (Score:2)
I wonder if this is legal in the USA. I suppose that's not an issue, since it's presumably only available in China.
China has nothing to do with it. Legality isn't an issue in the USA because here the cars are used to combat criminals who operate above the law. [youtube.com]
Re:Legality? (Score:3)
I kind of doubt that. Controlling a vehicle by remote control requires the brain to continuously transpose one three-dimensional perspective onto another one. If anything, they'll misjudge their turns and distances more often. And that keyfob looks too small to house a video camera, so I'm not sure how they'll avoid smashing into stuff behind or in front of them...whether that be a pole or a little kid.
Re:Legality? (Score:2)
At a paltry 1.2 MPH maximum speed, you can easily pace the car on foot and see exactly what is around it with your own eyes, which may be safer than trusting blind spots. Anyone who had a toy radio controlled car as a kid would find this thing ridiculously easy to move around, especially at such speeds as this.
It is certainly mountains easier than operating a JLG with a knuckle-boom, and everyone I've thrown into one of those gets it figured out fairly quickly.
That said, the only thing that seems useful about it that a rear-view camera doesn't cheaply provide is the ability to park in absurdly improbable spots that may otherwise be useful only for motorcycles. Alternatively, if these were common it'd be simple to improve parking lot densities.
Also, shipping containers: Perhaps the ability to neatly load the car into a standard shipping container is enough of a selling point. It may make exporting the car cheaper and more easily accomplished, which translates to more sales.
Realistically it seems like it's mostly a toy for most drivers. Which, IMHO, is OK too: A buddy of mine had a small Chinese scooter that had a remote starter on it, which was absolutely the most useless feature ever. But it sure was fun to play with for a minute or two and probably only cost the manufacturer a bit of wire and an extra button or two on the keyfob...so why not?
what no video? (Score:1)
Video? Yep (Score:5, Informative)
Not sure why the 'gizmag' photos-only link is offered when you can watch video of it over here [autoblog.com].
The think actually springs a leak in the video. I'd like to see the longer version were it catches fire. :)
It's leaking already! (Score:1)
Funny seeing it's leaking already, in a nice controlled arc at 2 mph. Floor was so clean too. I thought the remote controls on air conditioners were weird too, but so useful for high or odd spots. This RC park / un-park may be standard in 10 years.
Re:It's leaking already! (Score:2)
Looks like it's the air conditioner drain, but don't let that stop you getting your Jingoism on ;-)
Re:Video? Yep (Score:2)
Not sure why the 'gizmag' photos-only link is offered when you can watch video of it over here [autoblog.com].
The think actually springs a leak in the video. I'd like to see the longer version were it catches fire. :)
I thought you were joking, then I watched the clip :/
Re:Video? Yep (Score:2)
It looks like it's just water from the air conditioner...
http://www.motorpoint.com.au/car-air-conditioning-system.asp [motorpoint.com.au]
Re:Video? Yep (Score:2)
AC condensation was also my first guess upon reading the comment.
After I watched the video, I'm thinking motor oil. AC's don't make trails like that (too much liquid), and the liquid appeared to be rather dark.
The leak is also coming from the center line of the car, not off to the side like your quoted text suggests.
Re:Video? Yep (Score:2)
The think actually springs a leak in the video. I'd like to see the longer version were it catches fire. :)
This looks like a bit newer model, but sadly you were right: The remote control car is prone to experience mild explosions. [youtube.com]
Skitchin' (Score:0)
If you've got unmanned water ski tows [solowatersports.com]. You might as well have something beefy to tow you around on dry ground with, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skitchin' [wikipedia.org].
Father drives family off cliff (Score:1)
Using the latest in Chinese ingenuity to remotely drive your family off a cliff...
Why else would this be useful? Just use the steering wheel.
Re:Father drives family off cliff (Score:2)
I believe nobody has parked in China, at least not properly.
Terrorist's wet dream (Score:1)
Load the car up with explosives and/or containers of gasoline. Modify the controller and receiver to work from a few miles away. Remote control near the target of choice.
No need for suicide bombers, is basically untraceable post-factum and a car filled with explosives can make one hell of an explosion.
Might be useful if combined with parking assist (Score:4, Insightful)
If the vehicle had the sensors for parking assist, this could be useful. It's a relatively large car, and with this, you could put it into a compact car space. Parking spaces in major Chinese cities are very expensive and hard to obtain, so there's real value in being able to use a smaller one.
Re:Might be useful if combined with parking assist (Score:2)
That's what these are for. [dropbox.com] Combine one of these with appropriate force, and simple attrition will take care of the problem.
Remote Speed Limit 1.2mph (Score:1)
Sounds like its for parking the car. Also has a remote climate control to precondition the saloon. Sounds pretty good to me.
What could possibly go wrong here? (Score:3)
Re:What could possibly go wrong here? (Score:1)
Sure, sure. And chemistry kits can be used by terrorists for... evil. So let's make every object illegal.
Re:What could possibly go wrong here? (Score:2)
Sure, sure. And chemistry kits can be used by terrorists for... evil. So let's make every object illegal.
Here in the US, thanks to the patent system which restricts not only distribution but also merely the use of "inventions" everything is already illegal; From being square [totallyabsurd.com] to holding your breath [totallyabsurd.com], keeping your chin up [totallyabsurd.com], being repressed [totallyabsurd.com] or even just having one's ass in a sling. [totallyabsurd.com]
If everything you do is breaking some law, who cares what law new technologies might break?
Re:What could possibly go wrong here? (Score:2)
It only goes about 1 Km/h with the remote. It's not much of a missile.
Re:What could possibly go wrong here? (Score:2)
At two miles per hour it will take a couple of weeks before the robber manages to drive through the store.
Wireless? (Score:2)
Less space than a nomad. [wikimedia.org]
Lame.
affordable (Score:3)
No comments on the $10k price? After all it is something of a luxury car.
Is it due to cheap labor? Substandard parts? Government subsidies?
Or is it because of an appalling shortage of lawyers?
Re:affordable (Score:1)
No comments on the $10k price? After all it is something of a luxury car.
Is it due to cheap labor? Substandard parts? Government subsidies?
Or is it because of an appalling shortage of lawyers?
Due to the toy factory nearby?
Re:affordable (Score:2)
That was one of the first things I noticed. Same car would cost $20-25k in the US. And I'm probably low-balling that.
Re:affordable (Score:2)
Probably runs some sort of Linux variant and as such, doesn't have a Windows tax.
So Many Uses For This!!! (Score:2)
"Gee, officer, I guess somebody had the same code on their remote. Or maybe it was radio interference from a passing Google Streetmapper. I sure didn't mean for the car to pull forward from its parking space to squash that old lady. By they way... why is she carrying that Uzi?"
and off the cliff it goes! (Score:1)
This remote control car thing is just asking for trouble
Designed for terrorists (Score:2)
Huffy (Score:2)
I like the idea (Score:1)
It could be an endless source of YouTube "FAIL" videos.
car accident (Score:2)
Now you can have a car accident where you're both the driver and the pedestrian!
I want one! (Score:1)
Actually I want two of them. One at 27MHz and one at 54MHz so that I can drive them at the same time!
007 had one back in 1997 (Score:2)
007 had one back in 1997 and it was a BMW
"perfect for squeezing into parking spaces" (Score:2)
My question: how do the drivers of the two cars around yours squeeze into them when they are back ? That looks like a great way to come back to a fancy remote controlled *keyed* car.
Just What Every Unsuicidal Bomber Needs (Score:2)
This should open up a huge market in some unhappy parts of the world. I wonder what the remote's range is?
Just sayin'
Toad
When it hits 88 miles per hour... (Score:2)
... you're gonna see some serious shit.
Brilliant ... State Siezes Control of Cars (Score:2)
If the owner can remote control the car, so will the state:
"Escaping dissident's vehicle drives him to prison."
"Dissident's vehicle drives him into a tree, killing him."
Re:what the family thinks? (Score:2, Troll)
My main concern is not other people but my family of 3 children age 10 to 17, do any others have stories of “what the family thinks”?
I once dated a being six nonillion years my senior, we met by chance on the astral plains long before this space and time existed. Our coupling was so furious and primal its reverberations can still be felt throughout the multiverse, I came here to take in the last echos of our passion. I grin slyly when the greatest minds among your naive young ones refer to it as "The Big Bang"...
Family?! If you haven't already consumed their essences why do you care what they think? If you're having fun, that's all that matters.
Re:Life is that cheap in China? (Score:2)
OTOH, I love the idea of a car driving to pick me up at the curb outside a mall or restaurant during snow or heavy rain. Damn all the pedestrians!
You've obviously never been to China; a Chinese driver would have parked on the sidewalk right outside the door in the first place.