Legendary entrepreneur Elon Musk has gifted the world a lot of amazing things and with this latest move he plans to add another feather on his cap. The man behind Tesla Motors (TSLA, Financial) announced his vision of an autonomous car last week. The billionaire entrepreneur said that Tesla’s Model S sedans would see a software update that will enable the car to go on an auto-pilot mode, at least for some time. The company has made a full- fledged game plan to develop and integrate self-driving features in its future offerings. Let’s take a quick look at Tesla’s strategies going forward.
Tesla’s latest additions to the Model S
Tesla is working to add some advanced high tech features so that the car can be driven with minimum amount of effort, promising hands-free steering. The first version of the car would appear in 90 days, and the second update would happen in the next six months. The company intends to introduce autonomous controls one at a time, but faster than expected.
Musk said that, when the car was put to test, it could be driven from San Francisco to Seattle with minimal human interference – "It is technically capable of going from parking lot to parking lot, But we won't be enabling that for users with this hardware suite because we don't think it's likely to be safe in suburban neighborhoods."
Another remarkable feature that Tesla is adding to its Model S is Range Assurance that will alert drivers when they go beyond the range of a free supercharger or are running out of battery. That’s not all. Model S would also be equipped with a fantastic feature called the Trip Planner. This would help owners identify the optimal routes for any desired destination.
Autonomous driving is the future
While many stay skeptical, Musk says that a fully automated car is much safer than one driven by any man. He views “it as a solved problem,” further adding, “We know exactly what to do, and we will be there in a few years.” For now, the CEO intends to introduce automatic steering technology in the car within the next three month. The automaker’s bold announcement of the Model S software update has drawn lot of criticism. According to a New York Times report, Karl Brauer of Kelley Blue Book expressed his view about autonomous driving, saying, "There's a reason other automakers haven't gone there… it's not just a philosophical reason why automakers haven't allowed their vehicles to drive themselves… There's a legal reason, too."
Some states may have legalized autonomous driving. However, that’s for the purpose of experimenting on the viability of such cars, not for use by customers. In response, Tesla says that the upgrades that are being made fall within the regulations and do not contradict with any legal requirements.
Tesla isn’t the only company working on a self-driving car. Technology giant Google (GOOG, Financial) has been working on a driverless car from quite some time. And for that matter, even Apple (AAPL, Financial) has been speculated of venturing into designing a self-driving car, dubbed as the iCar. Detroit automaker General Motors (GM, Financial) is also working on similar lines to integrate hands-free driving features in its flagship sedan, the new Cadillac CT6.
Last word
Elon Mush believes it’s not an uphill task to achieve automatic driving. The combination of all the features being added to Model S would undoubtedly create demand for the product, and the CEO promises many more future benefits of the car. Definitely there are legal challenges ahead. However, autonomous driving is the way to go, though the transition could take as long as 20 years.
