Tesla autopilot video of urban traffic



    As promised by Elon Musk last weekend, the Tesla Model S electric cars began to receive an update that adds the autopilot feature. Although the head of Tesla spoke quite carefully about this functionality, so it seemed that he would only work on the freeways, one of the authors of the blog Jalopnik decided to test how it works in New York and posted the corresponding video. Despite some concerns, in general, the journalist left a positive impression. On the video you can see that Tesla behaves quite confidently: it moves at a fairly high speed, stops at a red light and even changes lanes when the driver turns on the left.

    Apparently, the necessary conditions for activating the autopilot mode are clearly distinguishable road markings and some minimum speed level (about 8 km / h). At the same time, the driver, remaining in his place and seeing how the steering wheel spins independently, observes the readings of the circular sensors of the electric car on the instrument panel. In another autopilot test video published by Ars Technica, the autopilot mode interface can be seen in more detail. It can be seen that at one point the driver is probably invited to take control of their own hands:



    Tesla honestly admits that according to the gradation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the autopilot mode of the electric car corresponds to the so-called “level 2”, in which the driver must constantly monitor the behavior of the car. Musk himself explained that in the event of any traffic accident, the owner of the electric car would still be responsible for him, and not the manufacturer. In a press release dedicated to the release of the update, it is explicitly stated that “the driver must constantly keep his hands on the steering wheel”, so that, probably, the authors of the video test violated the “User Agreement”.

    A little earlier, Elon Musk promisedthat truly unmanned “level 4” electric vehicles (which Alphabet holding implies in its work on fully robotic vehicles) will appear in about three years.

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