Owners That Bought "Full Self-Driving Capability" With Their Tesla May Never See It Function

Tesla has an Autopilot problem, and it goes far beyond the fallout from last month's deadly crash in Mountain View, California.

Tesla charges $5,000 for Autopilot's lane-keeping and advanced cruise control features. On top of that, customers can pay $3,000 for what Tesla describes as "Full Self-Driving Capability."

"All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go," Tesla's ordering page says. "Your Tesla will figure out the optimal route, navigate urban streets (even without lane markings), manage complex intersections with traffic lights, stop signs and roundabouts, and handle densely packed freeways with cars moving at high speed."

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SanJoseDriver - 4/18/2018 1:53:27 PM

-4 Boost

The hardware is upgradeable if it is not enough for full self-driving. The article does forgets to to mention that and a few other things, Autopilot HW 2.5 does have redundant steering, CPUs, and cameras. If anything NEEDS and upgrade, it will probably be the CPU, which is a 10min swap. Tesla is going to start making their own CPU soon, which will bring down costs of something far more powerful.

SanJoseDriver - 4/22/2018 9:38:25 PM

+1 Boost

I don't think LIDAR will be needed ever. Worst case there is a company called Velodyne (based in San Jose) that is making small and inexpensive LIDARS. It might be possible to embed one in the rear view mirror with the other cameras, but it is unlikely that anything more than a CPU upgrade would ever be needed for full self driving.

supermoto - 4/18/2018 3:44:09 PM

+5 Boost

CPUs are fine but the lack of LIDAR is a real problem.

Look what happened in when the Uber test vehicle ran over a pedestrian at night because it was dark and the pedestrian was wearing dark-colored clothing. Cameras alone just don't cut it.

SanJoseDriver - 4/22/2018 9:39:08 PM

+1 Boost

The Uber had LIDAR, didn't seem to make a difference.

PUGPROUD - 4/18/2018 5:04:45 PM

0 Boost

The big boys with muscle, money and experience are coming for Tesla. The Germans are going to put so much pressure on the company as they roll out their EV lines that Musk will not know what hit him. Time to sell to the Chinese before its too late.

mre30 - 4/18/2018 8:02:10 PM

0 Boost

Sadly, there is really nothing to sell. Most of the Tesla technology is "off the shelf" and from what I can see, their competitive advantages lie in Elon Musk's personality and the nicely designed (although somewhat unreliable) vehicles.

Tesla is a design and marketing story, not really a technology story.

As is evident from all the entities doing "Self-Driving" (from uber to cadillac to volvo to audi/VW) Tesla does not really have a lock an any real technological advantage.

If the day comes, Tesla will likely be a liquidation just like DeLorean was - though hopefully without the felony charges!

Fun Fact - the "Trump Bedminster, NJ Golf Club" used to be John Z DeLorean's home before it was lost in the bankruptcy filing. What goes around, comes around I guess.

MDarringer - 4/18/2018 9:39:23 PM

-2 Boost

Shaking the martini now.

TheSteve - 4/19/2018 3:38:13 AM

+2 Boost

Anyone who sells you a product that's "future proof" has an obvious lack of imagination beyond sales.

SanJoseDriver - 4/22/2018 9:42:58 PM

+1 Boost

Absolutely not, Supercruise is the only other Level 3 system at highway speeds, and you're going to pay $70k+ for that. The $5k version of autopilot is not standard on any car.