Elon Musk Tweets Tesla Self-Driving Rollout Could Take A Couple Of Months; Stock Falls

Tesla Inc's top boss Elon Musk said Tesla is tweaking its self-driving software to eliminate a phantom braking problem and may release a significantly improved version within the next two to three weeks.

Tesla Inc's top boss Elon Musk said Tesla is tweaking its self-driving software to eliminate a phantom braking problem and may release a significantly improved version within the next two to three weeks.

Tesla shares fell 2.7% to $600.42 in morning trade, headed for a third straight decline. U.S. federal and state regulators have been scrutinizing Tesla's semi-automated driving system following accidents in Texas and other areas.

"I think we're maybe a month or two away from wide beta. But these things are hard to predict accurately," Musk said in a Tweet.

In April, Musk said he would be "surprised" if wide beta service was available later than June, calling a May launch "aspirational."

In October, Tesla rolled out a pilot program of its long-touted beta full self driving (FSD) technology to a limited number of employees and customers, but has delayed the wider launch.

"We had to focus on removing radar & confirming safety," Musk said, referring to its plan to rely on cameras for its system.

When asked by a Twitter user whether its vision-only system would remove the "phantom braking" issue, in which a Tesla car sometimes applies a brake abruptly under an overpass or a bridge, he said, "yes."

In March, Tesla told California regulators that it may not achieve full self-driving technology by the end of this year. It said it is currently offering a driver assistant, level-2 technology that requires driver supervision.

Subscriptions to the software for the system would be offered within a month, Musk said, without elaborating further.

MOCTEN

 

In January 1993, EUNET launched the first online news website, MOCTEN.com (stands for Music Opinions Culture Technology Economy News), led by Eric Bach, Teus Hagen, Peter Collinson, Julf Helsingius, Daniel Karrenberg,...  Read more

×