Tesla has been teasing a software update for all cars built since October for a while now, with CEO Elon Musk first saying back in November that the upgraded Autopilot system would roll out in mid-December.
Now the company is finally updating cars equipped with the ‘HW2’ hardware to the new Autopilot system, which gives the cars several features missing from older Tesla vehicles.
This software will be upgraded incrementally each month, eventually becoming a fully autonomous system that, combined with the new hardware, will essentially allow Tesla cars to drive themselves.
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Tesla is launching the new software update over-the-air, so owners don’t need to do anything themselves to download the new features.
Despite the update, Tesla cars built since October still won’t have all the features of older cars, as the newer vehicles are equipped with upgraded hardware that needs to be incrementally upgraded to test its efficacy.
Musk says {pullquote{owners of the newer cars may need to have their on-board cameras adjusted by Tesla after the update in order for Autopilot to work properly.
The update adds a speed-limited version of Autosteer, otherwise known as “Autopilot”, which will work at speeds below 45 mph.
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Autopilot is design for use on highways and holds the car in position within a lane in slow-moving traffic by working in conjunction with the traffic-aware cruise control system (TACC).
The TACC feature means Tesla vehicles can adjust their speed based on the car in front, and is limited to a maximum speed of 75 mph with the new update.
New generation Tesla cars also gain Forward Collision Warning (FCW), a feature which alerts the driver of objects in their path, though Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) has been left out this time around.
More features will be made available in the future, though an exact timeline is unclear at the moment.
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Let us know what you think of Tesla’s update in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
