Tesla to improve city Autopilot driving with major software update

2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWDTesla will release the next version of its self-driving software, Version 10, starting next month. CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter over the weekend that the new software will do a better job of recognizing stop signs and traffic lights in cities and offer better driving characteristics on the highway. Musk said in April that the company expects...

Tesla Navigate on Autopilot drives itself poorly, Consumer Reports finds

Consumer Reports Tesla Model 3 testing Navigate on Autopilot [CREDIT: Consumer Reports]Tesla says it has improved its self-driving Navigate on Autopilot system with its latest software update. Consumer Reports begs to differ. Last month, Tesla updated its Navigate on Autopilot software to allow its cars to change lanes automatically, without prompting or warning the driver. This gives the system the ability, for example, to navigate...

Report: Autopilot was engaged when Tesla Model 3 crashed into semi

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]A preliminary report released on Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed an important piece of information in the fatal crash involving a 2018 Tesla Model 3 earlier this year: Autopilot was engaged. On March 1, the Model 3 was traveling southbound on U.S. 441—a divided highway—in Delray Beach, Florida. A semi...

Tesla faces lawsuit in fatal Model X crash on Autopilot

Tesla Model X crash, Hwy 101 Mountainview, CaliforniaThe family of a driver killed in the crash of a Tesla Model X driving on Autopilot filed a lawsuit April 26 against Tesla over the crash, Bloomberg reported. Software engineer Walter Huang, 38, was killed March 23, 2018, when his 2017 Model X drifted out of the left lane of Highway 101 in Mountain View, California and struck a concrete median...

Musk aims to transform Tesla into self-driving robo-taxi company

2017 Tesla Model S testing at Consumer ReportsAt an investor presentation on Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid out plans essentially to transition the company from a traditional car manufacturer to an operator of self-driving “robo-taxis.” Musk reiterated a statement he made in January that all Tesla cars built since last month will have “feature complete” full...

Tesla Model 3 updates: Leasing, Autopilot standard, base model limited

Tesla Model 3 bought [Photo by reader AH]Tesla announced major changes to its model lineup Thursday, especially the Model 3, in an effort to shore up sales. After the federal tax credit available on its cars halved Jan. 1, Tesla has dropped prices, added features, streamlined its model lineup, and introduced new lower-priced options for the Model 3, including the long-promised $35,000...

Tesla unleashes driver warnings from Navigate on Autopilot

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]In a blog post on Thursday, Tesla announced that drivers will no longer have to approve lane changes when the car's Navigate on Autopilot system is engaged. It's a small step, but also a pretty big leap toward self-driving cars. Navigate on Autopilot is Tesla's "on-ramp to off-ramp" self-driving system, which allows its cars that have the feature...

Tesla starts Hardware 3 rollout: Enhanced Summon, red-light warnings

Tesla Model 3 Enhanced Summon video still [by YouTuber  Nagaraj Kelageri]Like Teslas rolling through parking lots on their own, the self-driving future is inching closer. This week, Tesla owners began to experience new features of the company's long-promised next update to its self-driving system, including Enhanced Summon, which is one of the first features of Tesla's planned Full Self-Driving capability to be...

Tesla Autopilot ranks next-to-last in study of self-driving systems

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]Tesla, its owners and fans, and its CEO Elon Musk crow a lot about the capabilities of its Autopilot self-driving system. In independent comparisons, though, other autonomous driving systems keep coming out ahead. The latest is from Navigant Research, an automotive consulting firm, and the results aren't rosy for Tesla's Autopilot. It rated second...

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 Autopilot, Hyundai Nexo pricing, Rivian No. 3: Today’s Car News

2019 Hyundai Nexo, Topanga Canyon, CA, Oct 2018Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company's Autopilot system will allow Tesla owners to commute with no driver input "soon." Speaking of Autopilot, our Twitter poll asks readers how often they use Tesla's new on-ramp to off-ramp Navigate on Autopilot system. Pricing is out for the Hyundai Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell car. And Rivian says it intends...