All Tesla Models Now Have Self-Driving Capabilities
By Kelly G.
Tesla announces the big news that all of its vehicles will be equipped with self-driving capabilities.
Maybe it’s because Tesla’s big announcement was overhyped. Or maybe it’s because we are so used to huge “game-changing” news from CEO Elon Musk that this one just left us a little underwhelmed.
Either way, when Tesla finally announced this week that all of its models being produced would have the hardware needed for full self-driving capabilities, it left some of us wanting more. And it wasn’t until I had some time to process the information that I began to realize how big this announcement was.
What this means is that all Tesla model’s, including the entry-level Model 3, will be built with self-driving hardware installed from the factory. Elon Musk also added that the new hardware suite could be fully capable of “level 5 autonomy” by as early as 2018.
“Tesla Vision”: A Closer Look
-Eight cameras, providing 360-degree visibility up to a range of 250 meters.
-New, forward-facing radar system, featuring upgraded enhanced processing capable of seeing through heavy rain, fog, dust and even objects ahead of the vehicle.
-Twelve new ultrasonic sensors, allowing for detection of both hard and soft objects at nearly twice the distance of the current system.
-40x more powerful computer for analyzing data, which uses updated radar, vision, and sonar software.
The company says that initially, the new hardware suite will not offer Autopilot capabilities on par with the old hardware, but over the next year, the system will be updated through over-the-air updates and will surpass the previous version.
Maybe it was the way company released the big news, via the company’s blog, which had us wanting more. There sure was a lot of social media hype for the news especially when they decided to postpone the announcement until right before the final presidential debate.
Next: Tesla Autopilot Update Angering Some Owners
I admit, the initial announcement left me a little underwhelmed, but after the smoke cleared and I had some time to really check out what this means for the future of autonomous driving, I found myself excited and interested in checking out this new hardware myself.
So what are your thoughts on Tesla’s new announcement? Hit us up on Twitter @ArtofGears with your comments. For more information on the Tesla announcement, you can check out the official release here.