autopilot

Tesla customers have driven over 1.2 billion miles (1.9b kilometre) with the company's semi-autonomous Autopilot systems engaged, a new report says. First covered by Electrek, a team from MIT Human-Centered AI has produced (and is still updating a report) estimating the distance covered by Tesla vehicles operating with Autopilot turned on.

A preliminary report from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says Autopilot may have steered toward the dividing barrier on US Highway 101 before a fatal accident involving a Tesla Model X earlier this year.

Bhavesh Patel, 39, from Nottingham, UK, has been banned from driving for 18 months for dangerous driving, after he abandoned the driver's seat while the Autopilot feature of his Tesla Model S was switched on. At around 7.40pm on May 21, 2017, Patel switched on the Autopilot assisted driving feature as he was heading down the M1 motorway. He then moved across the passenger's seat.

Tesla chief Elon Musk says that by the end of 2017, all new models will have the capability - if not the legal freedom - to travel the breadth of the continental United States without human input. Musk's ambitious comments come as part of an announcement today that all Tesla vehicles now rolling out of the company's factory in Fremont, California, are equipped with sensors and processing capabilities far superior to those feature in existing Teslas.

The next iteration of Tesla's Autopilot system will reportedly require a lot more detection hardware. According to anonymous sources who have spoken to Electrek, the updated hardware suite will include radar units at each corner of the vehicle, as well as a new forward-facing triple camera setup. It's said that in time and with further software updates, this combination of hardware and software will be able to deliver level three and level four autonomous driving capabilities.