Fatal Tesla Autopilot crash: ‘system safeguards lacking,’ says NTSB

Tesla Enhanced AutopilotThe Florida crash that killed the driver of a Tesla Model S while that car was operating under Autopilot software reverberated far and wide in global media. While human drivers are imperfect, with reaction times limited by millions of years of evolution, they at least provide a focus for blame if they crash their cars. So the results of a National...

Autonomous electric truck prototype can be controlled remotely

Einride T-pod, autonomous electric truck prototypeSwedish company Einride has officially unveiled the first full-scale prototype of its futuristic autonomous electric truck. First announced back in April, the T-pod is touted as being more than a simple self-driving electric truck—it’s pitched as an entirely “new transportation system,” with plans to have an active fleet of...

Tesla Model 3: do design features point to self-driving car-sharing service?

2017 Tesla Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 continues to generate an inordinate amount of interest from electric-car advocates and the general public, as pretty much any Tesla model has in the past. But unlike the Model S in 2012, which broke new ground on multiple fronts, the lower-priced Model 3 appears to be less innovative based on what we've seen as the car goes into...

Startup Amber’s self-driving cars to hit Dutch streets in 2018?

Amber OneWhile Uber, Tesla, and Google are fighting over who will be first to deploy self-driving cars on a large scale, the Dutch underdogs at mobility startup Amber are planning a surprise move to overtake them all. If all goes according to plan, Amber’s self-driving cars will hit the streets of Dutch cities by mid-2018. Amber CEO Steven Nelemans...

Tesla Hardware 2: so what functions work in Autopilot and what don’t?

Tesla Enhanced AutopilotThe expanded collection of sensors known as Hardware 2 continues to bring new and revamped features to the Tesla Model S and Model X electric cars. But how do the latest features offered by Autopilot stack up against those offered until last fall by the superseded Hardware 1 setup? One owner has gone through the trouble of laying everything out as...

Tesla gets new Autopilot head after just five months

2016 Tesla Model STesla's most recent Autopilot software head has left the company after just five months on the job. Chris Lattner, who had previously worked at Apple for more than a decade, joined Tesla in January as head software engineer overseeing development of the electric cars' Autopilot active-safety systems. However, it wasn't a good fit—something...

Tesla driver killed in Autopilot crash ignored repeated warnings, NTSB says

Tesla AutopilotThe National Transportation Safety Board has published its first findings after investigating a fatal highway crash in 2016 involving a Tesla Model S and a tractor trailer. The crash occurred on last summer after 40-year-old Joshua Brown was driving with Tesla's Autopilot engaged. The system failed to apply the brakes when a tractor trailer turned...