Tesla only recently announced that it will equip all its new cars with full self-driving technology that will allow the cars to be driven without any human input. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla, has announced that one of the company's cars will drive from Los Angeles to New York in full autonomous mode by the end of next year. The announcement came during a conference call about its upgraded autonomous software which will also be available on the Tesla Model 3 starting next year.
Despite growing criticism for crashes involving Tesla models, Musk's faith in the Autopilot system remains steadfast. However, in light of the critique of its self-driving technology Tesla has decided to introduce advanced hardware that will give endow its cars with the competence to drive themselves "at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver". The new hardware will include 8 cameras that provide a 360-degree view up to a range of 250 metres; 12 updated ultrasonic sensors that can detect both hard and soft objects; a forward-facing radar that can see through heavy rain, fog, dust and even the car ahead; and a new computer that is 40 times more powerful than its predecessor's processor.
The announcement about Tesla's upcoming fully autonomous road trip in the US comes as regaulators in Europe have increasingly expressed concerns about the name 'Autopilot'. After labeling the Autopilot function a 'traffic hazard', Germany's federal transport ministry instructed the carmaker to remove 'Autopilot' from its advertisements. Additionally, Dutch regulators are also reassessing the fate of the term.
