The Tesla Model S will now be able to drive itself all by its own.
The Tesla Model S will now be able to drive itself all by its own. It gets a new Autopilot mode as a part of the upgrade to the car’s latest software update version 7.0.
The Autopilot function will be available overnight to over 60,000 vehicles that were manufactured since last September. The cars will be fitted with absolutely essential features like a front facing camera, forward radar, ultrasonic sensors all around the car and something that the company calls ‘High Precision Digital Maps’. The front facing camera has the capability to read most road signs, while the forward radar can see through during various weather conditions like rains, snow or even fog. The ultrasonic sensors help the car get information on other cars in its vicinity on the highways and the maps house pooled data on the number of lanes, curvature of the roads and even parking lots for that matter. All the above mentioned upgrades will cost a one-time price of $2,500 (Rs. 1.57 lakhs) in the U.S. and will also be offered on the upcoming Tesla Model X.
Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Motors, said, “We still think of this as a public beta, so we want people to be quite careful with it at first. But it learns over time. The network of vehicles is constantly learning and as we release the software and more people enable Autopilot, the information about how to drive is uploaded to the network.” He also mentioned that the new technology is only limited to well-marked roads and dense traffic situations in the current update. The next update, that is version 7.1 will enable the Model S to drive along private driveways, park itself and close the garage door too. He said that they will eventually gain autonomy to eliminate driver control completely hinting that they are definitely working towards a fully autonomous model.
Tesla Motors is an American automotive company that designs, manufactures and sells electric cars, electric vehicle power train components and battery products. It was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company is currently working on a new all-electric SUV named as the Model X.