SAN FRANCISCO — In August, Tesla electric cars will offer “full self-driving features,” CEO Elon Musk tweeted over the weekend.
But aside from that brief description, written in response to an owner’s comments about Tesla’s Autopilot suite of driver-assist features, Musk didn’t give any more details about just how autonomous his cars would be.
In the tweet, which addressed a concern about Autopilot wavering in high-traffic lane-merging situations, Musk said “that issue is better in latest Autopilot software rolling out now & fully fixed in August update as part of our long-awaited Tesla Version 9.”
He added that “to date, Autopilot resources have rightly focused entirely on safety (and) with V9 (version 9), we will begin to enable full self-driving features.”
That issue is better in latest Autopilot software rolling out now & fully fixed in August update as part of our long-awaited Tesla Version 9. To date, Autopilot resources have rightly focused entirely on safety. With V9, we will begin to enable full self-driving features.
Just what “full self-driving” means to Musk remains in question. Tesla would not comment beyond the CEO’s tweets.
The Society of American Engineers has a ranking system for self-driving cars, with SAE Level 1 referring to systems such as basic cruise control, while Levels 4 and 5 refer to vehicles that need little to no human oversight.
Tesla’s Autopilot is considered an SAE Level 2 system, which combines adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist technology. Tesla repeatedly has asserted that its system needs driver monitoring and is not meant to replicate self-driving tech.
Fully and semi-self-driving auto tech has been under a microscope lately as federal investigators continue to investigate crashes of vehicles that were using such systems.
In March, an Uber self-driving car killed a pedestrian in Arizona when its sensors and on-board safety driver failed to notice the woman crossing in the middle of the road in the dark.
And two recent Tesla crashes involved Autopilot, one in which a California driver was killed when his car veered into a highway barrier and another when a distracted Utah driver hit a parked fire truck at 60 mph. Neither had their hands on the wheels for some time before the crash.
Tesla electric cars such as the Model S and Model X are known for their sleek looks, hefty price tags and rapid acceleration. The company is rushing to ramp up production of its entry-level Model 3 sedan.
And there’s a chance Tesla could soon be rocket-ship fast. Musk also tweeted that the new version of his Roadster two-door sports coupe will feature a SpaceX option, a nod to his rocket company.
SpaceX option package for new Tesla Roadster will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car. These rocket engines dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking & cornering. Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly …
“SpaceX option package for new Tesla Roadster will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car,” Musk tweeted. “These rocket engines dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking & cornering. Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly …”
It’s tempting to see this as a joke. But with Musk, you never know. After all, most people thought he was joking about selling flame throwers, and now they’re in customer hands.
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Elon Musk CEO of SpaceX, speaks to the media during a press conference after the Falcon Heavy Launch on Feb. 6, 2018. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY VIA USA TODAY NETWORK
Tesla founder Elon Musk presenting the new Roadster electric sports vehicle (on background), presented to media on Nov. 16, 2017 at Tesla’s Los Angeles design center. Tesla says the Roadster will accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than two seconds. Tesla says the new Roadster will cost $200,000 and will be released in three years. /TESLA HANDOUT VIA EPA-EFE
PayPal Chief Executive Officer Peter Thiel, left, and founder Elon Musk, right, pose with the PayPal logo at corporate headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., on Oct. 20, 2000. Elon Musk made his fortune off PayPal. Online auction giant eBay Inc. announced Monday, July 8, 2002, it would buy the electronic payment facilitator for more than $1.3 billion in stock. PAUL SAKUMA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulates teams competing on the Hyperloop Pod Competition II at SpaceX’s Hyperloop track in Hawthorne, Calif on Aug. 27, 2017. A committee of the Los Angeles City Council on April 18, 2018, approved an environmental review exemption for a Los Angeles-area tunnel that Elon Musk wants to dig to test a novel underground transportation system. DAMIAN DOVARGANES/AP
SpaceX’s newest rocket, the Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket in the world, lifts off on it first demonstration flight. The rocket leapt off Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:45pm. on Feb. 6, 2018. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY VIA USA TODAY NETWORK
This image from video provided by SpaceX shows Elon Musk’s red Tesla sports car with a dummy driver named “Starman” which was launched into space during the first test flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket on Feb. 6, 2018. /SPACEX VIA AP
The twin boosters from SpaceX’s newest rocket, the Falcon Heavy make a successful landing at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb. 6, 2018. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY VIA USA TODAY NETWORK
President Trump talks with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, center, and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon during a meeting with business leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 3, 2017. EVAN VUCCI/AP
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk speaks about the Interplanetary Transport System which aims to reach Mars with the first human crew in history, in the conference given by Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk during the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico on September 27, 2016. HECTOR-GUERRERO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk unveils the Model X at a launch event in Fremont, Calif on Sept. 29, 2015. The Tesla Motors X is an all-wheel drive SUV featuring a 90 kWh battery providing 250 miles of range and will be able to go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. ROBERT HANASHIRO/USA TODAY
CEO and Chief Product Architect of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk shows of his throwback t-shirt of the “Tesla” heavy metal band on January 24, 2015 in Park City, Utah. LILY LAWRENCE/GETTY IMAGES FOR OCEANIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, discusses new technologies before an event for Tesla owners and the media held at the Hawthorne Airport. In the background is a Tesla model P85D. ROBERT HANASHIRO/USA TODAY
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveils SpaceX’s new seven-seat Dragon V2 spacecraft, in Hawthorne, California on May 29, 2014. The private spaceflight companys new manned space capsule is designed to ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The capsule was named for “Puff the Magic Dragon,” a jab at those who scoffed when Musk founded the company in 2002 and set the space bar exceedingly high. SpaceX went on to become the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and return it safely to Earth in 2010. ROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Elon Musk CEO, Cofounder, Chief Product Architect for Tesla with a new Model S car outside the Tesla customer delivery area at the Tesla Fremont factory on June 21, 2012. /JESSICA BRANDI LIFLAND FOR USA TODAY
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, poses with a Tesla car in front of Nasdaq following the electric automakerís initial public offering on June, 29, 2010, in New York. /MARK LENNIHAN, AP
Tesla Motors president and CEO Ze’ev Drori, left, and Tesla Motors chairman Elon Musk, right, pose in the Tesla Motors development facility in San Carlos, just south of San Francisco next to a Tesla Roadster on Feb. 19, 2008. The Tesla Roadster, a $99,000 electric sports car powered by laptop computer batteries, is 100 percent electric, can go from 0-60 mph in four seconds and the electric car gets an equivalent of 135 mpg compared to a gas powered vehicle. Production begins mid-March. The car itself is being made in England. JACK GRUBER/USA TODAY
Elon Musk stands in front of parts of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket at the company’s headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. on Sept. 18, 2007. DAN MACMEDAN/USA TODAY
