Self-driving technology has been a major conversation within the automobile world. While Tesla has nit been the first automobile company to develop this technology, the electric automobile pioneer is currently the most well known for their push for self-driving automation on the roads. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently announced that the current technology within certain Tesla models is in need of major upgrades.
Self-driving technology backed by Tesla
Tesla has been pushing for full implementation of their self-driving technology for over a decade. Tesla currently has two self-driving packages for their vehicles: Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised). According to the Tesla website, Autopilot has the following features:
- Traffic-Aware Cruise Control: Matches the speed of your vehicle to that of the surrounding traffic
- Autosteer: Assists in steering within a clearly marked lane, and uses traffic-aware cruise control
Full Self-Driving on the other hand is more advanced and, according to Tesla, has the following features:
- Navigate on Autopilot: Actively guides your vehicle from a highway’s on-ramp to off-ramp, including suggesting lane changes, navigating interchanges, automatically engaging the turn signal and taking the correct exit.
- Auto Lane Change: Assists in moving to an adjacent lane on the highway when Autosteer is engaged.
- Autopark: Helps automatically parallel or perpendicular park your vehicle, with a single touch.
- Dumb Summon: Moves your vehicle in and out of a tight space using the mobile app or key.
- Actually Smart Summon: Your vehicle will navigate more complex environments and parking spaces, maneuvering around objects as necessary to come find you in a parking lot.
- Autosteer on City Streets
- Traffic and Stop Sign Control: Identifies stop signs and traffic lights and automatically slows your vehicle to a stop on approach, with your active supervision
Self-driving technology in need of major upgrades
According to Musk, while Tesla has pushed for widespread implementation of the technology, they have had to return back to the drawing board:
“The truth is that we’re gonna have to upgrade people’s Hardware 3 [computers] for those who have bought Full Self Driving,” said Musk, “and that is the honest answer.”
“There is some chance,” the CEO said during Tesla’s Q3 2024 earnings call last October, “that Hardware 3 does not achieve the safety level that allows for unsupervised FSD.”
These comments follow recent crashes involved with the FSD technology which have resulted in injuries as well as the death of a pedestrian. While Tesla does stress that when using the technology the driver needs maintain awareness of the roads, there are still concerns over the integrity of the software itself. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating Tesla over the crashes.
Tesla continues to be a pioneer in futuristic technology
Despite the setback in the FSD technology, Tesla continues to be a pioneer in pushing advanced technology within the automobile world. They continue to be innovators in the electrical engine sphere, particularly with regards to their battery technology developments. In terms of the environmental impact Tesla cars have had, according to 2023 data, Tesla customers avoided releasing over 20 million metric tons of CO2e into the atmosphere.
“After 17 years of driving, a Tesla vehicle will avoid approximately 51 metric tons of C02e. Charging EVs becomes greener over time as electricity generation becomes cleaner. By comparison, the carbon impact of ICE vehicles remains the same every year of use,” according to the Tesla 2023 Environmental Impact Report. Electrical engine solutions have been the most popular alternative engine solution, with many other automobile companies now offering their own electric and hybrid vehicles. In addition, hydrogen technology has also been on the rise in order to phase out internal combustion engines.
