How far Tesla is going with Autopilot for the launch? In October, Musk set some wild timelines for full self-driving capabilities in the Tesla fleet. The company upgraded the hardware suite of its full line-up of cars to eight surround cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, a forward radar, and a massively powerful new computer. He said it was all the hardware that will be needed for driverless transport. By the end of 2017, Musk said, he hoped to travel coast to coast without any driver interaction.
Tesla immediately started charging new customers an extra $3,000 for an option called “Full Self-Driving Capability.” However, the software still hasn’t been released that would take advantage of it, and to date, the pricey option adds no additional functionality.
Musk has dropped a number of hints that those features will start becoming available around the launch of the Model 3. In January, I asked him at what point Full Self-Driving Capability will depart from the Enhanced Autopilot features. His response, via Twitter: “3 months maybe, 6 months definitely.”
Six months would coincide with the July launch. As Musk wrote last week, when explaining why a heads-up display would be unnecessary:
Tesla has had a slog over the past few months getting its new Enhanced Autopilot hardware suite to match the performance of the old Autopilot. It’s possible that whatever Tesla has planned for self-driving features will end up delayed.
But it’s also possible the Model 3 will be the first car designed from scratch for automation—navigating city streets, responding to stop signs and stop lights, possibly even making its own turns. Musk is now engaging in a bit of what he calls “anti-selling” on Twitter, downplaying features that will be unique to the Model 3 as he tries to convert some reservation holders to the more expensive Model S. Differentiating the two classes of vehicle will be important going forward. But with Autopilot the entire Tesla lineup may be headed for a launch upgrade.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.