Tesla on Sunday announced a slew of new software updates for its cars, mostly revolving around the company’s self-driving “Autopilot” functionality.
Tesla’s autopilot system collects data from every Tesla car on the road and feeds the company’s intelligence network, which is constantly improving and updating to understand how drivers behave in certain situations and specific areas and roads, which informs every other car in the fleet.
The new update —version 7.1 — includes limits on where “Autopilot” can be used — you can no longer use it on residential streets or roads without a central divider — but it also has some improvements for Autopilot, like the ability to better recognize upcoming curves in the road.
And in the newest over-the-air update, Tesla cars can now also be “summoned” with no one in the car, in which they’ll drive up to the owner and park. When Tesla originally showed off this feature, it said the cars will also be able to turn on heating or air conditioning, and play your favorite music so your car’s fully ready for you by the time you get in.
In a conference call with reporters Sunday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the Autopilot updates were necessary after witnessing dozens of people posting videos of themselves doing unsafe things with their Tesla cars’ autopilot systems. But at the same time, Musk is very proud of how far this self-driving technology has come.
“It’s probably better than a person right now (at driving),” Musk said on the call.
Musk added that in the next two years or so, Tesla cars “will be able to drive virtually all roads at a safety level significantly better than humans.”
“I think within two years you’ll be able to summon your car from across the country,” Musk said.
You can learn more about the latest Tesla update here.
