Tesla Inc is tweaking its self-driving software to eliminate a phantom braking problem. It may soon release a significantly improved version within few months, stated Elon Musk.
Tesla shares were down 4.4% at $589.89. The U.S. safety regulator said it has launched a probe into a fatal crash near Fontana, California, involving one of the company’s vehicles. Following the accidents in Texas and other states, Tesla’s semi-automated driving system is being scrutinised by the U.S. federal and state regulators.
Tesla said that it is currently offering a driver assistant, level-2 technology that requires driver supervision. It also stated that they may not achieve full self-driving technology by the end of this year. Tesla gave this statement to California regulators in March. Musk tweeted that he thinks they are maybe a month or two away from wide beta. And also, these things are hard to predict accurately.
Tesla rolled out a pilot program of its long-touted full self-driving (FSD) technology to a limited number of employees and customers in October. But it has delayed the wider launch. Musk said that they had to focus on removing radar & confirming safety.
Musk said YES to a Twitter user, when he asked whether its vision-only system would remove the phantom braking issue, in which a Tesla car sometimes applies a brake abruptly under an overpass or a bridge. He also added without any other elaboration that subscriptions to the software for the system would be offered within a month.