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Germany urges Tesla owners to use extreme caution with Autopilot
Tesla's "Autopilot" feature (a driver assistance tool rather than something that truly lets the car drive itself) has come under fire in recent months. Earlier this year, a car using Autopilot was involved in a fatal accident, causing a host of investigations into the safety of Tesla's feature. Among the institutions concerned with the feature is the country of Germany -- last week, Germany's transportation ministry said the Model S Autopilot was a "considerable traffic hazard." Now, Reuters reports that the country is reaching out directly to Tesla drivers, asking them to use caution.
Tesla's major Autopilot update starts rolling out today
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to announce the latest update to his company's EVs will begin rolling out tonight. We've heard quite a lot about the "major overhaul" that is version 8.0 already, since it includes significant tweaks to the semi-autonomous Autopilot mode -- a reaction to the feature's role in a fatal crash this summer. Following the update, Autopilot will rely more heavily on radar, rather than these sensors playing second fiddle to camera feeds. The idea is radar is much more reliable than cameras when visibility is poor, such as when you're driving through snow or fog.
Tesla: Mobileye tried to stop our in-house chip development
Tesla and former pal Mobileye aren't quite done airing controversial statements against each other. After the company behind Autopilot's image recognition hardware said it severed its ties with the automaker because it was "pushing the envelope in terms of safety," Tesla fired back with its own feisty response. A company spokesperson told Reuters that Mobileye wasn't happy when it learned that Tesla decided to work on its own vision chips for Autopilot. She said Mobileye "attempted to force Tesla to discontinue this development, pay them more and use their products in future hardware."
Mobileye bailed on Tesla over Autopilot safety concerns
The head of driver-assistance system maker MobilEye has said that the company ended its relationship with Tesla because the firm is "pushing the envelope in terms of safety." That's the controversial quote that CEO Amnon Shashua gave to Reuters explaining why its years-long partnership was axed just when it began to bear fruit. Unfortunately, a fatal collision between a Model S and a box truck on a Florida highway this May made MobilEye reconsider its position.
Tesla's next Autopilot update will rely more on radar
Today Tesla announced that its upcoming Autopilot 8.0 update will rely more on radar than previous versions of the semi-autonomous feature. To boot, it will penalize inattentive drivers.
Tesla reportedly eyes brakes in fatal Model S crash
Tesla is considering two possible scenarios that would explain the fatal Model S crash in Florida, and according to Reuters and The New York Times, neither is about Autopilot. During a meeting with the US Senate Commerce Committee, the automaker reportedly presented two theories. First is the possibility that the car's automatic emergency braking system's camera and radar didn't detect the incoming truck at all. The other theory is that the braking system's radar saw the truck but thought it was part of a big structure, such as a bridge or a building. It's programmed to ignore huge structures to prevent false braking, after all.
Tesla parts ways with chipmaker behind its Autopilot system
In the wake of a fatal Tesla Model S Autopilot accident in Florida, the all-electric automaker has announced it is parting ways with Mobileye, the company behind the image recognition hardware that powers the semi-autonomous system. As Recode reports today, Tesla will most likely be moving forward by building its own computer vision chips in-house.
Regulator: Tesla crash shouldn't hinder self-driving research
If you thought that officials would halt progress on self-driving cars in the wake of a Tesla Autopilot crash in May, you're in for a surprise. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lead Mark Rosekind told guests at an event that he and other regulators don't plan to slow down the development of autonomous vehicle hardware. To him, the car business "cannot wait for perfect" -- people have to be "desperate" for any technology that could save lives. He isn't touching the Autopilot crash specifically (the NHTSA is still investigating), but it's reasonable to say that he doesn't currently see the tragedy changing his stance.
Tesla Master Plan pt. 2 explains how everyone gets an electric car
Back in 2006 Elon Musk casually revealed the plans for what Tesla Motors has mostly accomplished in the decade since, and now (after some teasing) he's back with part two. While the original "Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan" explained how the company's vision extended beyond its Roadster to cars that would become the Model S and Model 3, what's next is even bigger. Besides adding a compact SUV and pickup truck to its model line, don't expect to see any Tesla's coming out that are cheaper than the Model 3. Instead, as Musk envisions, the rollout of fully self-driving automobiles will allow owners to put their car to work when they're not using it, and make ownership economically viable for anyone (of course, it's worth noting that car companies like Ford and GM are working on similar plans of their own).
Tesla hopes existing tech improves its semi-autonomous driving
Many have speculated that Tesla could have prevented the Autopilot-related Florida crash if its cars had lidar (visible light detection and ranging) to better understand the world around them, not just cameras and radar. However, Tesla might have a way to improve its semi-autonomous driving without grafting on new equipment. Elon Musk explains that his company hopes to adapt its existing radar systems to produce a lidar-like map of the surrounding environment with the help of "temporal smoothing" that compares object positions over time. The current hardware should produce a high-enough resolution for this to work, he adds. And unlike lidar, it can see through dust, rain and snow.
Elon Musk: Autopilot was turned off in PA Model X rollover
The driver who crashed his Model X on the Pennsylvania Turnpike earlier this month blamed Tesla's Autopilot for his accident. But according to Elon Musk, onboard vehicle logs showed the car's semi-autonomous mode was switched off when the incident happened. Tesla's CEO revealed that info on Twitter, adding that if Autopilot was on, the accident wouldn't even have occurred.
Tesla plans to educate drivers following Autopilot crash
Tesla doesn't believe that it should scale back its Autopilot feature in the light of a tragic crash in May. If anything, it's boosting its commitment to the self-driving tech. In a Wall Street Journal interview, the EV maker's Elon Musk has promised more education about Autopilot. There will be a blog post explaining both how Autopilot works and what you're supposed to do when it's turned on -- namely, be ready to take control at a moment's notice.
WSJ: SEC is investigating Tesla's fatal Autopilot crash
Tesla is facing another probe over the May 7th crash that killed the driver of a Model S that was cruising the streets on Autopilot. The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether the company broke the law by failing to inform investors of the accident, according to The Wall Street Journal. Tesla told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the crash as soon as it found out. However, it wasn't able to notify investors about it and that it happened while the car was on Autopilot before it sold $2 billion in stock on May 18th and May 19th.
Tesla crash prompts NTSB investigation into autonomous driving
Investigations are already underway regarding the role of Autopilot in the fatal Tesla Model S crash on May 7th, but the National Transportation Safety Board wants to take things one step further. It's launching its own investigation into the tragedy to see whether or not it reveals any underlying problems with autonomous driving as a whole. Is current technology truly safe, for example? And is existing regulation up to the job of covering that technology?
Tesla's Autopilot blamed for a Model X crash
Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot mode is coming under fire for the second time in as many weeks. Art dealer Albert Scaglione claims that the feature was responsible for a crash that rolled his Model X on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on July 1st. According to the police report, the electric SUV smacked into a guard rail and hit the median before landing on its roof. Both Scaglione and his passenger (his son-in-law) thankfully survived.
Police confirm DVD player found in Tesla Autopilot wreck
A day after we learned that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating a fatal crash involving Tesla's Autopilot feature, more details have emerged. The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed to Reuters that a portable DVD player was found in the wreckage. The driver of the truck that was crossing the highway when it was struck by the Model S told the Associated Press that the driver was playing a Harry Potter movie at the time. He said he could he could hear it playing after the car hit a telephone pole further down the road.
Musk: Tesla will do 'the obvious thing' for Autopilot on Model 3
Tonight during an interview at the Code Conference, Elon Musk shared his thoughts on everything from The Martian to AI (he's only worried about one unnamed tech company when it comes to AI, maybe we should Google the answer) to the current presidential race. Most notably however, he mentioned Tesla is planning another Model 3 event this year, saying it's already notched over 400,000 preorders and the design should be done in about six more weeks. Pressed for an answer by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher on the availability of Autopilot on the $35,000 base model, Musk would only say "we'll do the obvious thing." You can watch the interview below for more details on things like why SpaceX lands its rockets at sea and its launch schedule for the next few years.
A 45-year-old New York law is holding up autonomous vehicles
In New York state, legislators are worried a law from 1971 could be a roadblock for autonomous vehicles in the near future. As the New York Daily News reports, the state is the only one in the country that requires drivers to keep at least one hand on the steering wheel while driving. Obviously, this could be a problem for self-driving cars, since they don't have hands.
Tesla gives owners free trial of its self-driving future
Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot mode is a great way to get a tiny glimpse into the self-driving-car future. Currently if you're a Model X or S owner and you didn't add the option when you bought your vehicle, but you're curious to try it out, the automaker is offering a 30-day trial.
Tesla hires veteran from AMD, Apple to make self-driving tech
If there was any doubt left that Tesla is serious about self-driving car tech, it all but disappeared this week. The company has confirmed to Electrek that it recently hired processor design veteran Jim Keller to lead its Autopilot hardware engineering team. He's not only responsible for some of AMD's key architectures (such as the Athlon K7 and the upcoming Zen), but helped make Apple's A4 and A5 chips -- you know, the ones that powered everything from the original iPad through to the Apple TV.
