Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company’s Autopilot will ‘begin to enable full self-driving features’ this summer.
The billionaire tweeted that a major update to the software coming in August, dubbed Tesla Version 9, will fix a number of issues with the Autopilot system.
He said the upgrade will resolve problems with lane merging and enhance the software’s self-driving capabilities.
The news comes days after federal investigators determined that a Tesla SUV using the firm’s autonomous driving system accelerated before it collided with a California freeway divider in March, killing its driver.
Data shows the Model X SUV did not brake or try to steer around the barrier in the three seconds before the crash. The driver did not have his hands on the wheel.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company’s Autopilot will ‘begin to enable full self-driving features’ this summer. The billionaire tweeted that a major update to the software coming in August, dubbed Tesla Version 9, will fix a number of issues with the Autopilot system
The latest version of Tesla’s ‘over-the-air’ software – downloaded wirelessly to compatible vehicles – will be Tesla’s first major update in almost two years.
Version 8 featured a fresh user interface, a number of new features and several improvements to the company’s Autopilot AI. It was released in September 2016.
Musk hinted Version 9 would bring similar changes with a focus on the AI’s ability to understand lane merging in a tweet sent to a Tesla owner yesterday.
The electric car fan had complained that his Tesla struggled to recognise it should give the car in front room when lanes merge during busy traffic.
‘That issue is better in latest Autopilot software rolling out now & fully fixed in August update as part of our long-awaited Tesla Version 9,’ Musk responded.
‘To date, Autopilot resources have rightly focused entirely on safety. With V9, we will begin to enable full self-driving features.’
The ‘full self-driving package’ is only available to owners of Tesla model S and Model X vehicles with the firm’s Autopilot 2.0 hardware.
The company has repeatedly stated that, in its current form, Autopilot is not for fully autonomous self driving, but rather to increase safety for the car and its passengers.
Musk said the upgrade will resolve problems with lane merging and enhance the software’s self-driving capabilities (file photo)
Musk has previously said the software will ‘never be perfect’ and is not designed to replace human control of a vehicle.
It is instead designed to aid motorists with driving tasks like staying in lane in a bid to reduce accidents.
But Tesla has been in the spotlight recently over ‘autopilot accidents’.
Federal investigators concluded on June 7 that a Tesla SUV involved in a fatal accident in California earlier this year accelerated before it crashed, killing its driver.
The Tesla Model X had been operating using the firm’s Autopilot software when it collided with a freeway barrier in Silicon Valley, California.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in a preliminary report on the March 23 crash, also said that data shows the Model X SUV did not brake or try to steer around the barrier in the three seconds before the crash in Silicon Valley.
The NTSB says it now will examine the cause of the crash.
Tesla has repeatedly stated that Autopilot in its current form is not for fully autonomous self driving, but rather to increase safety for the car and its passengers. Pictured is the interior of a Tesla with its Autopilot feature engaged
Tesla wouldn’t say if the system performed as designed.
A spokesperson referred to a company blog saying that a Tesla with Autopilot is far safer than vehicles without it.
The blog says Autopilot does not prevent all crashes but makes them less likely.
The crash on US 101 killed the driver, Walter Huang, 38, an Apple software engineer.
In its report, the NTSB said the SUV was operating with traffic-aware cruise control and autosteer lane-keeping assistance engaged at the time of the crash.
The cruise control maintains a set distance between the cars and traffic in front of them. The SUV also was equipped with automatic emergency braking.
According to the report, during the 60 seconds before the crash, Huang’s hands were detected on the steering wheel three times for a total of 34 seconds.
But for the last six seconds, hands were not detected on the steering wheel.
Eight seconds before the crash, the SUV was following a vehicle and traveling about 65 mph.
A second later, the SUV began a ‘left steering movement’ while still following the other vehicle.
Four seconds before the crash the Tesla wasn’t following a vehicle any more.
A second later it accelerated from 62 mph to 70.8 mph ‘with no pre-crash braking or evasive steering movement detected,’ the report said.
When the SUV moved to the left, it entered a ‘gore area’ that is marked with white lines and divides the freeway lanes from an exit ramp.
Then it hit the barrier, which was equipped with an accordion-like device to absorb impact in a crash.
But that device had been damaged in a previous crash on March 12.
It likely will take more than a year to determine what caused the crash, NTSB spokesman Christopher O’Neil said Thursday.
Among other factors, investigators are trying to determine how the car’s camera, radar and ultrasonic sensors were working and what they were tracking.
‘The focus isn’t Tesla’s technology,’ he said. ‘The focus is on what led to this crash and how do we prevent it from happening again.’