Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) car owners are in line for another update to its Autopilot autonomous automotive technology, the company has revealed.
Autopilot 8.0 will be delivered in an over-the-air software update to the operating systems of Tesla Model S and Model X cars in the next couple of weeks.
New restrictions on Autopilot 8.0 are a nod to widespread concerns that autopilot can lull users into a false sense of security through its “hands-off” driving, although the company maintains Autopilot of not supposed to replace the driver. The updated system will temporarily prevent drivers from using it if they fail to respond to audible warnings to take back control of the car.
The improvements to Autopilot come in the wake of a number of high-profile accidents allegedly involving the Autopilot self-driving system but Tesla CEO Elon Musk is keen to emphasise that this is not a case of issues with Autopilot technology being fixed.
Instead it's merely the latest stage in Tesla's continual improvement of its products. Speaking in an online press conference to launch the software update he said: “It’s not going from bad to good, it’s going from good to great". "This will probably see a three-fold increase in safety.”
Autopilot, introduced last October, has been the focus of intense scrutiny since it was revealed in July that a Tesla Model S driver, Joshua Brown, was killed while using the technology in a 7 May collision with a truck in Florida.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating Tesla’s Autopilot system since June because of the fatal accident. The agency said it had been briefed on the changes by Tesla.
One of the main challenges of using cameras and radars for a braking system is how to prevent so-called false positives, in which a car might think an overhead highway sign, for example, is an obstacle to be avoided.
Another challenge is how the transmission works in the event that a driver is taken ill using Autopilot and not able to take back manual overdrive.
Silicon Valley-based Tesla is known for its innovation in luxury electric vehicles but some critics have said it was hasty in rolling out Autopilot.
Tesla shares were up 0.7% at $195.84 in pre-market on Monday.
Meanwhile, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) scaled down its self-driving car project, according to a Wall Street Journal report, with several dozen employees being laid off. The paper pointed out that Apple has never publicly acknowledged working on a self-driving vehicle.