Elon Musk teased an exciting, new ‘product unveiling’ about ten days ago. The CEO of Tesla has now revealed that all new Tesla models, including Model 3, will be self-driving electric cars. The company announced that all new Tesla models would be equipped with the necessary hardware for the self-driving feature.
Apart from Model 3, the users who have ordered Model S and Model X would also receive EV’s outfitted with the self-driving feature. An even better news is that the vehicles are already in the production phase and are ready for purchase.
Tesla’s blog post announcing the new feature is quite optimistic:
“We are excited to announce that, as of today, all Tesla vehicles produced in our factory – including Model 3 – will have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver.”
This is a huge step for the Elon Musk enterprise that has repeatedly come under fire for the accidents involving the driving assistance Autopilot feature. However, the company said they are doing all they can to ensure the user safety:
“Before activating the features enabled by the new hardware, we will further calibrate the system using millions of miles of real-world driving to ensure significant improvements to safety and convenience.”
The Tesla system updates will be wirelessly delivered via the over-the-air software update system developed by the company. Eight surround cameras included in the new cars will provide 360-degree visibility to the users for up to 250 meters.
12 high-tech ultrasonic sensors will also be embedded in the car for the detection of both the soft and the hard objects. The range of the new system will be almost twice the range of the previous Tesla system. A forward-facing radar would be used to see through fog, rain, dust, and even through the car driving in front of you.
See images below:
The state-of-the-art technology will go beyond the five human senses, and Tesla believes that it will be much safer than everyday driving.
Recently, Tesla also updated the Model 3 marketing page on its site. Earlier, the page read that the $35,000 EV sports car will start shipping in 2017. However, now the page states that Model 3 will go into production in late 2017 while the new reservations will be delivered in 2018 or later.
Tesla insisted that it has not deferred the original delivery date as the 2018 timeline for Model 3 delivery is only for the new reservations.
