A new version of Tesla’s Autopilot software to be released in August will provide full self-driving features, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Twitter.
When a Twitter follower asked about improvements to lane merging capabilities of the Tesla driver-assist system, Musk touted gains in lane-keeping for the most recent software release. Then he offered that Tesla’s ninth version of the software will go further, offering full self-driving features for the first time.
That issue is better in latest Autopilot software rolling out now & fully fixed in August update as part of our long-awaited Tesla Version 9. To date, Autopilot resources have rightly focused entirely on safety. With V9, we will begin to enable full self-driving features.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2018
Tesla owners have seen gradual improvements to Autopilot in the past year, but it sounds like a big update is coming in August.
A release in March (2018.10.4) was widely noted as a significant improvement over previous versions, performing well in poor weather conditions and in narrow or unmarked lanes. The software is paired with hardware consisting of 8 cameras, 12 sensors, a forward facing radar, and enough computing power to enable Tesla’s vision and neural net system to continuously learn and improve as the combined fleet logs billions of miles on the road.
Tesla currently charges $3,000 for the Full Self-Driving feature in addition to a $5,000 charge for Enhanced Autopilot.
Tesla planned to show off the full self-driving capability with a coast-to-coast autonomous drive by the end of last year. While the company missed that deadline, Musk has suggested that a coast-to-coast drive could happen in coming months.