Tesla Autopilot update initially rolled out to 1000 cars

The Hardware 2 camera and sensor set was announced late 2016 and all vehicles produced from October 2016 were fitted with the new equipment. The Hardware 2 equipment includes eight cameras, one radar, ultrasonic sensors and a new supercomputer.

While the advanced Hardware 2 equipment is technically capable of fully autonomous self driving, also known as level five autonomy, the Autopilot software fitted to Hardware 1 vehicles wasn't yet fully tested with the new Hardware 2 equipment.

As a result, Tesla spent time to ensure the software was fully functional before rolling it out to customers. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, wrote on Twitter that the rollout has commenced for 1000 cars before being rolled out to all Hardware 2 customers.

"HW2 Autopilot software uploading to 1,000 cars this eve. Will then hold to verify no field issues and upload to rest of fleet next week," Musk said.

Some of the features Hardware 2 vehicles missed out on between delivery and this update includes things like autonomous emergency braking (AEB), collision warning and active cruise control.

All Tesla vehicles manufactured since October 2014 have featured Autopilot hardware either in Hardware 1 or Hardware 2 form, allowing the electric vehicle manufacturer to collect over 2.0 billion kilometres of data from all driving and weather conditions around the world.

Australian delivered vehicles with Hardware 2 equipment will also be updated in the coming weeks if they haven't been updated already.