Tesla has true autopilot market to itself for at least 12 more months

[calisnow]

There has been speculation that Mercedes was internally debating whether to remove the "super lawyer nag" from the 2017 E class shipping in a couple months because Tesla has aggressively pushed the bar. I don't have the source but I read this in an article somewhere.

But the latest videos released only a few days ago by auto blogs doing ride-along demonstrations of the new E-class's semi autonomous abilities clearly state that the nag in the new W213 E-class is every 30 seconds.

Personally I think that this gives Tesla some breathing room to not need to move to AP 2.0 anytime soon - because they still have the world's only functional autopilot (by functional I mean one which allows the driver to remove their hands from the wheel for minutes at a time - not seconds) and will have for at least another year.

 

[kort677]

FWIW: when I was in CO in late Jan. I encountered a group of Bosch engineers and techs road testing AP equipment on BMWs, so MB is not the only player stepping up to match Tesla's "great leap" in auto technology.

 

[Discoducky]

I'd bet more like 2 years, but what do I know...

 

[calisnow]

FWIW: when I was in CO in late Jan. I encountered a group of Bosch engineers and techs road testing AP equipment on BMWs, so MB is not the only player stepping up to match Tesla's "great leap" in auto technology.

You're right - every automaker is going for it. My point is at this time everyone else is crippling their systems by requiring near-constant contact with the steering wheel. I think the fact that Tesla is the only one not "nannying" their autopilots to the point where they are actually useless is a big selling point for Tesla and gives them some breathing room in the arms race.

 

[stopcrazypp]

FWIW: when I was in CO in late Jan. I encountered a group of Bosch engineers and techs road testing AP equipment on BMWs, so MB is not the only player stepping up to match Tesla's "great leap" in auto technology.

Yeah, BMW has a similar summon function on the 7 series also (although I'm not sure if it is released yet), so probably BMW will be the one that gets there first before Benz.

 

[HookBill]

It is a foregone conclusion that more and more automakers will be coming out with AP. The important thing for Tesla is to stay one step ahead of them. The Germans, in particular, have spent a ton of money over the last few years developing autonomous automobiles and Audi even has a A7 that navigates a race track, with no driver, at race speeds. They are closing the gap with very sophisticated systems so it is paramount for Tesla to at least match them over time. It is one thing to take an early lead in a race but something else to have the closing speed at the end to win.

 

[calisnow]

I think it's highly unlikely Tesla is standing still behind the scenes.

 

[L-P-G]

The big difference that Tesla has is the OTA updates.

 

[Joel]

I think it's highly unlikely Tesla is standing still behind the scenes.

Elon Musk visits Mobileye in Israel - Globes English

 

[HookBill]

I think it's highly unlikely Tesla is standing still behind the scenes.

I know they aren't either. What makes thing so hard to see through is the secrecy behind what they are up to. Other manufacturers are a bit more upfront about their approach to this issue and all are following a similar path minus the OTA. I think the hardware is the negative element for me but hopefully that will be addressed in future versions.

 

[FequalsMA]

Tesla's whole mantra has been to do things differently than other auto manufacturers (OTA updates after purchase, direct sales, beta features) and we can sure bet that they will continue to do so especially when it comes to advancements in AP.

If they can implement some niche feature that will appeal to a significant amount of current or perspective clients then you can bet they will. The benefits are doubled when the media gets wind of it and reports it and it becomes marketing.

Tesla can still play on their advantage of being a relatively "small" auto manufacture.
Changes and optimizations in either production line or software are possible in weeks to months, not YEARS or GENERATIONS like other manufactuers.