Tesla’s 8.1 updates have made the Autopilot feature smarter, faster, closer to realizing level 5 autonomy. This is part of Tesla’s incremental pushes for HW2 enabled vehicles that are to be released throughout the year via over-the-air (OTA) software updates, which began at the end of January and will drop every two to six weeks.
The latest 8.1 update will give Tesla owners some brilliant features to play with, which includes upgrades to the lane control systems, Autosteer and Summon. Version 8.1 looks to increase the capacity of the Autopilot and for Autosteer, the feature that keeps the car in its lane, top speed is now increased from 55 mph to 80 mph.
The update also brings enhanced lane departure warnings and a brand new Auto Lane Change feature which allows the Autosteer to change lanes by itself when the driver flicks the turn signal. An aptly named “Summon feature” also comes with the update, which will allow Tesla users to move their cars in and out of the garage, parking lots, etc. with just the push of a button.
The new Autopilot system got into all sorts of problems after its first international scrutiny and a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation in the aftermath of the self-driving car fatality last year. But Tesla claims that the HW2 hardware kit is much more adept and advanced than the previous ones, and they hope that the automobiles will soon be able to handle Level 5 autonomy (complete hands-off self-driving) by the end of these updates, which is estimated to happen by the end of this year by Musk.
3 months maybe, 6 months definitely
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017
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