(correction of Roundup October 15: In the second paragraph, the first sentence has been corrected to $ 2500, the cost of the installed components, not the price of the software update. )
PALO ALTO (AFX) – The electric car manufacturer Tesla-& lt; TSLA.NAS & gt; can keep its vehicles in future automatically track and the distance. They should change lanes and the target can also parking. The already announced in last year “autopilot” functions are first added in the US via a software update. Europe and Asia will follow soon.
The hardware for the functionality for driving costs Tesla $ 2,500, but pay full price with the new vehicle. The update is also free for customers. However, the software is still in an early phase, and the drivers should keep their hands on the steering wheel as far as possible, said founder and chief Elon Musk in a conference call late on Wednesday. In relaxed traffic situations some drivers may be able to let go of the control – “but we do not recommend that.” Give it an accident when changing lanes with “autopilot”, exemplary still the driver warned Musk.
The car changes lanes alone when the turn signal is activated. When parking, the software also automatically searches for a suitable parking space along the roadside.
Tesla had been months equipped vehicles freshly produced its Model S with radar and ultrasonic sensors and cameras. This enables, among other things, a side-impact warning. Around 60 000 of the 90 000 built Tesla had the necessary equipment on board. Sensor data from the vehicles are uploaded to Tesla to improve the capabilities of the software. “The system learns over time,” Musk said.
Also, the SUV model X, whose production is being ramped up to, obtain the “autopilot” functions. Musk expects that cars could bring in principle alone the occupants from A to B in three years. It will still take at least a year longer to create a legal framework for it.
Computers are fundamentally better drivers than men, stressed Musk. At the same time, he acknowledged that it is the software sometimes severe case, to detect pedestrians and cyclists as other vehicles. The self-propelled car “should drive around any pedestrian, hopefully,” he said. But it is currently in his view, still too early to reassured.
Tesla about 50 employees working at the “autopilot” software and about 100 on the hardware to Musk said. The carmaker has a total of around 14 000 employees.
Other manufacturers integrate into their cars already functions for automated driving, such as Mercedes in its S-Class. For Tesla, the car should be able to go to the next software version 7.1 from alone in the garage.
The billionaire Musk is betting that the future belongs to electric drives. With prices in dollars of 70 000 (61 000 euro) plays Tesla previously but only in the upper class with. Musk hopes for a sales boost when from 2017 is a “Model 3″ for around $ 35,000.
more doubts about the business prospects of Tesla were present for investors recently arisen. The share price fell from $ 260 in September under the brand of 220 dollars. After the announcements about the “autopilot” features the share price rose on Thursday premarket temporarily by one percent to some 217 dollars. / So / DP / stb
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