Coverage: Tesla announces self-driving car

If you didn’t think Tesla is the coolest car, Thursday’s stories about the company put it even further ahead of the competition.

Chris Woodyard wrote for USA Today that Tesla will add a self-driving system in a few months, putting it on the cutting edge of new technology:

Tesla Motors announced updates Thursday to its Model S electric car that it says will end “range anxiety” and could lead to an early self-driving system within a matter of months.

CEO Elon Musk said on a conference call with reporters that a software update soon will set routes for Tesla cars in ways that they are always close to the company’s “Superchargers,” a network of high-speed battery chargers situated along major highways for intercity travel, and let drivers know about their status. The car will keep track of the closest charging stations in real time, checking in with the system about every 30 seconds.

The car now will also warn drivers if they are going to drive outside the range of charging locations. As a result, Musk says it will be “basically impossible” for the battery to run out of juice unless “you do so intentionally.” The goal, he says, is to end the anxiety about finding a place to recharge, one of the big deterrents to owning an electric car.

The New York Times story by Aaron M. Kessler said that self-driving cars might not actually be legal:

But some industry experts said serious questions remain about whether such autonomous driving is actually legal and are skeptical that Model S owners who try to use autopilot would not run afoul of current regulations.

“There’s a reason other automakers haven’t gone there,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst with Kelley Blue Book. “Best case scenario, it’s unclear. If you’re an individual that starts doing it, you’d better hope nothing goes wrong.”

Mr. Brauer said while a handful of states had passed laws legalizing autonomous vehicles, those laws were written to cover the testing of driverless cars, not their use by consumers.

“It’s not just a philosophical reason why automakers haven’t allowed their vehicles to drive themselves,” he said. “There’s a legal reason, too.”

Alexis Georgeson, a spokesman for Tesla, said that there was “nothing in our autopilot system that is in conflict with current regulations.”

Ms. Georgeson said the system was designed to be used by an alert driver. “We’re not getting rid of the pilot. This is about releasing the driver from tedious tasks so they can focus and provide better input,” she said.

Nick Statt wrote for CNET that Tesla was working hard to get people to adopt electric cars:

Addressing range worries is one of the largest hurdles to more widespread adoption of electric cars. Tesla has gone to great lengths to make the experience of going gas-free as easy as possible. The company has built its own network of 403 Supercharger stations, with more than 2,200 Superchargers, and it’s also testing battery swap stations in California, giving drivers the option of a 30-minute recharge or a complete battery exchange taking less than 3 minutes.

Tesla has in the past sent software updates to existing Model S cars over the vehicle’s cellular data connection. The previous updates added functions like traffic-aware cruise control, camera-enabled headlights and so-called Creep mode, which helps the Model S act more like traditional automatic-transmission cars while in traffic.

Musk laid out why Tesla is able to do this when other carmakers can’t.

“We’ve designed the Model S to be basically a computer on wheels,” Musk said. He considers Tesla a hardware company to some degree, but thinks of Tesla as a Silicon Valley software company.

The Wall Street Journal story by Mike Ramsey said that Tesla was ahead of the rest of the industry:

Mark Wakefield, a partner at management consulting firm AlixPartners LLP, said Tesla is well ahead of the rest of the automotive industry. Its willingness to take risks has given it a jump on competitors. “They are certainly more gutsy,” he said.

Mr. Musk said he aims to make updates every three months, continually adding or changing features. Like a smartphone, there may be a limit to the updates that can be made to older vehicles. And some of the capabilities added with software rely on new sensing equipment that became available only in the newest versions of the car in October.

Tesla built the car with powerful processing capability that initially was greater than necessary for what the car did. However, Jen-Hsun Huang, chief executive of graphical chip maker Nvidia Corp., said some of those processors now are being strained as Tesla has increased its cars’ capabilities.

Strained or not, it seems the car of the future is already here – remote software updates, driverless capabilities and other high-tech perks. While the cars aren’t within reach of most people, it’s fun to dream and also see the technology that will one day be available for everyone.