Tesla Motors Unveils Autopilot System, Cautions Drivers to Hold the Wheel

Tesla Motors, in their newer Model S sedans, have featured an autopilot system allowing the cars to steer & park on their own under particular conditions, the carmaker revealed; however, the CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk cautioned drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel.

The newly designed autopilot features are designed for vehicles manufactured after September 2014, and are going to be available for the US customers. Asian and European customers will have to wait for an additional week. Additional features would be provided by Tesla through over-the-air upgrades.

The autopilot functionality is in beta mode, and Musk cautioned against full ‘hands-off’ driving. Talking to reporters at Tesla’s Silicon Valley headquarters, Musk said, “We’re being especially cautious at this stage so we’re advising drivers to keep their hands on the wheel just in case. Over time there will not be a need to have your hands on the wheel.”

Reporters took the Model S sedans with autopilot out for a spin and noticed that taking their hands off of the steering wheel displayed a notice on the dashboard instructing them to ‘hold steering wheel.’

When navigating conditions are even more difficult, an audio alert would sound – if that was ignored too, the car would slow down and come to a stop, explained Tesla.

“We’re very clearly saying this is not a case of abdicating responsibility,” Musk emphasized. “That will come at some point in the future but … this is still early days.”

Clear instructions have been provided for the owners stating “auto steer is a hands-on feature. You must keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times.”

According to Musk, it would take three years for cars to reach a point where they could drive from your home to work without the driver having to touch anything at all. However, the regulatory approvals will take much longer.

Regulators would have to be shown the data illustrating that these self-driving cars can actually work, said Musk.

Tesla had launched its Model X SUV this month, which HAS become the pioneer in luxury electric cars charged through batteries in the US. Expertise of Tesla in software has gained it the status of the premier in self-driving features, something which the traditional car manufacturers have been slow to develop.

With Teslas already on the road, it will help the company enhance its autopilot systems and make them even more reliable. Explaining this, he said:

“The whole Tesla fleet acts like a network. When one car learns something they all learn it. As … more people enable autopilot, the information about how to drive is uploaded to the network. Each driver is effectively an expert trainer in how the autopilot should work.”