Elon Musk did everything but confirm that Tesla Model 3 will be fully autonomous

[Hamartia Antidote]

http://electrek.co/2016/06/02/tesla-model-3-fully-autonomous-elon-musk/

Following the Tesla Model 3 unveil in March, CEO Elon Musk said that a “part 2” unveiling event will follow “closer to production”, which is set to start in late 2017. He added that he expects the features that will be revealed at the event will significantly increase the number of reservations Tesla receives for the vehicle – the tally currently stands at close to 400,000 pre-orders.

Fully autonomous driving is expected to be the main new feature to be announced at the event and now Musk did everything but confirm it during a conference yesterday.

Elon Musk gave a talk at the Code Conference yesterday (see video below) and when asked directly if the Model 3 will be autonomous, Musk looked like he was about to give a direct answer, but after a few seconds of hesitation he said that there will be another big event “maybe toward the end of the year” during which he will talk in more details on the subject.

He then added that it will be “really big news” when he starts talking about it and that Tesla will do the “obvious thing”.

The obvious thing is fully autonomous driving. It’s what everyone has been talking about since Tesla unveiled the Model 3 prototype without any instrument cluster, and it’s also what they were talking about when Musk referred to it.

Musk’s latest prediction for when the fully autonomous level 4 technology will be ready (regardless of government regulations) actually falls right in Q4 2017 or when the Model 3 is expected to hit the market – he said “in about 2 years” back in December 2015.

Tesla’s CEO doesn’t know exactly how long the regulatory process will take, but he is confident the data should convince them, especially since the early data from the first generation Autopilot is encouraging.

During the talk today, he reiterated his prediction, which is still in line with the previous timeline, and added a comment about regulatory approval:

“I think we are less than two years away from complete autonomy – safer than humans – regulations should take at least another year.”

When it comes to autonomous or semi-autonomous features under its Autopilot program, Tesla has introduced the hardware long before enabling the features via over-the-air software updates so it’s not impossible that the Model 3 will have all the necessary fully autonomous hardware when it hits production in “less than 2 years” and then Tesla can activate the features gradually – as they become safe and legal.

5:00 mark

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brianso...ears-from-complete-car-autonomy/#637ec56685df

Elon Musk: We Are Less Than Two Years From Complete Car Autonomy

Tesla CEO Elon Musk

Elon Musk is known for his optimistic deadlines, but this one is very aggressive.

The Tesla CEO spoke at the Code Conference on Wednesday night and predicted that we’re closer to self-driving cars than anybody thinks. “I think we are less than two years away from complete autonomy, safer than humans, but regulations should take at least another year,” Musk said.

While many auto and tech companies–from Google to Uber and GM to Lyft and Apple to Ford–are researching and testing autonomous vehicles, the Tesla seems on the verge of announcing that its Model 3 consumer sedan will have full self-driving capabilities.

Musk did not confirm that feature, but when asked multiple times on stage, he replied that there would be another Tesla event later in the year in which he would have more details. The only thing he would say is that Tesla would do “the obvious thing”–seemingly a reference to a prior comment he made about autonomous driving being a must have feature for future vehicles.

Musk also took a crack at Apple, the computer maker widely rumored to be building a car. Musk estimated that Apple wouldn’t be able to start mass production until 2020 at the earliest, which he called a “missed opportunity,” suggesting they should have started the project earlier. No one knows that better than Musk, who has been working on Tesla for 13 years and still is hounded by major production delays as he tries to scale the business.