2019 CES: Quiet year for green-car and self-driving news

2019 Nissan Leaf PlusAs always, the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show held this week in Las Vegas was massive. Hundreds of thousands of attendees, workers, and support staff converged at multiple venues to show off their latest wares, meet with clients, partners, and the media and try to break through the news clutter. For automotive news, however, this year’s CES...

Future Tesla Autopilot chips may come from Samsung self-driving push

2017 Tesla Model S testing at Consumer ReportsThe race to build self-driving cars is heating up, with Google (Waymo), Tesla, Uber, Lyft, Ford, GM (Cruise), and others all vying to build the first reliable self-driving system. Now add Korean electronics giant Samsung to that list—with a twist. Its first client could be one of the major competitors in the business, Tesla. Tesla once had a...

Tesla drivers log 1 billion miles on Autopilot

2017 Tesla Model S testing at Consumer ReportsSelf-driving systems are like teenage drivers: They get better with practice. Tesla announced in a Tweet on Thursday that its cars logged 1 billion miles driving on Autopilot. That's a key milestone, since Teslas driving on Autopilot (and driven by humans) send data about what they see on the road back to Tesla, so the company can address problems...

Another owner sues Tesla over Autopilot rear-end crash

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]Another Tesla owner whose car crashed while Autopilot was engaged has sued the automaker claiming false advertising In September, a woman whose Tesla crashed into the back of a stationary fire truck at speed while driving on Autopilot in Utah sued the automaker with similar claims. On Tuesday, Florida resident Shawn Hudson sued Tesla after his...

Teslas to get new self-driving, Autopilot chip in spring 2019

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk took to Twitter Tuesday to announce that owners will get a new Autopilot chip in about six months that will be much more powerful and enable the company's long-awaited Full-Self Driving Mode. In a series of tweets, Musk said that owners who have prepaid for the Full Self-Driving Mode feature in their...

Consumer Reports ranks Tesla Autopilot second among self-driving systems

Consumer Reports tests Tesla Model 3 braking [CREDIT: Consumer Reports]In the latest ranking of automaker self-driving systems, Tesla's popular Autopilot system ranked second to Cadillac's Super Cruise system. The ratings come from Consumer Reports, which tested the cars on its test track and on local highways, in both lead and following positions. The organization rated the systems on their capability and ease of...