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Software Update Adds Autonomous Driving To Tesla's Bag of Tricks (nytimes.com)

Posted by timothy on from the just-lie-back-and-relax dept.

An anonymous reader writes with the news that Tesla owners today found their cars had been upgraded with the company's new autopilot feature: "That means the next time you see a Model S cruising next to you on the interstate, look closely: It may be driving itself." Adds the submitter: Well, I guess some of you will be celebrating this; but this submitters' fear, is that if this technology becomes pervasive, the skill of operating a vehicle will be lost, as is any skill that isn't practiced regularly. It is unlikely that 'self-driving cars' will reach a point where they can handle 100% of all driving circumstances without human intervention, emergency circumstances being the first and foremost example of what an automated system could not adequately handle unaided; what will we do then, when injuries that could have been avoided or when lives are lost because people aren't competent to operate a vehicle any longer?

4 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. $2,500 by Dan+East · · Score: 3, Informative

    It costs $2,500 to unlock this new software feature.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re:$2,500 by steve_ellis · · Score: 5, Informative

      It costs $2,500 to unlock this new software feature.

      That is not (entirely) accurate. The autopilot feature is currently on the price list as a $2500 option. I'm under the impression that all current cars _may_ have the right sensors (they are generally helpful in getting good collision avoidance ratings--I'm not sure but I assume if you have the hardware and you did _not_ pay for autopilot when it was available as an option, then you may be able to pay now to enable the feature).

      However, my car, built in late September, 2014, was not priced under the current pricing model--there was no autopilot option at that time, yet my car (like most cars built in late September, 2014) has all the sensors and autopilot is fully enabled on my vehicle as of the software update I installed this morning. I did pay for other options that are no longer available (as I recall, parking sensors and fog lights), but I did not have to pay $2500 to enable autopilot. -se

    2. Re:$2,500 by olddoc · · Score: 4, Informative

      You had to buy the car initially with the optional "tech package" for $2,500. I did and now I have autosteer and autopark in addition to adaptive cruise control.

      --
      Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  2. Re:It was a slippery slope ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    The more manual a vehicle is, the more reliable it is. The fewer parts a vehicle has, the easier it is to maintain and repair yourself. There have been days where I was quite glad one of our tractors still has a manual crank start.

    The slippery slope is not driving skill, but self maintenance capability. All these geewhizbang gadgets do not add any real value to a vehicle, just the cost and planned obsolescence/disposability.