Tesla Plays a Reckless Name Game With Autopilot

You have to admire Elon Musk'southward vision and bravado. His various and disruptive arroyo to electric cars, space travel, and public transit is helping revolutionize transportation, while his charisma and candor constantly keep him in the news.

Opinions Just last week, Musk's Boring Company inked a deal with the city of Chicago to build a high-speed underground transit line called X to cypher travelers between O'Hare Airport and downtown in but 12 minutes. Musk as well announced that Tesla will release a software update for Autopilot in August that will evangelize "total self-driving features," fifty-fifty as a federal bureau investigates a fatal accident blamed on the semi-autonomous system.

These are prime examples of non only Musk's outsized ingenuity and influence, just also of how he radiates a realty distortion field to rival Steve Jobs. The Ho-hum project in Chicago calls for drilling tunnels from downtown to the airport for autonomous electric pods that can carry up to 16 passengers at speeds up to 150mph.

That Chicago awarded the project to The Boring Company over proposals from more established firms proves Musk's power of persuasion and glory status, specially considering the startup doesn't even have a working paradigm. Its only test tunnel was dug at the company's Hawthorne, California, headquarters, and it's been given a light-green light by the Los Angeles City Council to construct a ii.7-mile tunnel to fix for a proposed loftier-speed line betwixt downtown LA and LAX Drome.

Autopilot Has Difficulty

Boring plans to pay for the construction of the Chicago 10 line and recoup its costs from fares of around $25 per person. As someone who has sat in traffic for more than an hour to get to and from O'Hare—and paid more than double the proposed price of an X line ticket for a taxi or Uber—I'thousand all for it.

But I tin can't abide Musk's contempo announcement via a tweet that an upcoming Autopilot update will provide Tesla vehicle with "full self-driving features," and Tesla standing to confuse car buyers using the same term. While it's typically of Tesla and Musk's audaciousness, it'due south besides downright dangerous considering several accidents involving Autopilot.

Musk'south tweet was in reply to a Twitter user and Tesla driver who noted that "when ii lanes merge and it is rush hr traffic," Autopilot has difficulty assessing the situation. Musk said Autopilot "is better" at handling the situation later its latest software update.

He also added that the issue will be "fully fixed" with the Tesla Version 9 update in Baronial. And while Musk didn't reveal specifics on the upcoming update, his "total cocky-driving" verbiage echoes Tesla's misleading messaging about the arrangement offering paw-off autonomous capability when information technology's non even shut.

It also flies in the confront of data on a recent high-profile, fatal accident blamed on an overreliance on Autopilot. Information technology was revealed that the commuter didn't have his hands on the steering wheel earlier striking a center divider on a Northern California highway, and that the vehicle was in Autopilot fashion for virtually 19 minutes before the crash, co-ordinate to the National Transportation Rubber Board (NTSB).

This followed a fatal crash in Florida involving the system when a Model Due south struck a semi. More recently, separate Model South drivers hitting parked firetrucks in Los Angeles and Table salt Lake City while using Autopilot.

With its most recent software update, Tesla added a more aggressive warning to remind drivers to keep their easily on the wheel while using the system, although some owners are irritated by the change and refer to information technology every bit "Autopilot nag." Fan boys yet, it's a step in the correct direction and more than in line with semi-autonomous systems from other automakers.

But as long equally Musk and Tesla continue to call Autopilot a "total self-driving" organization and confuse the public, more people will become killed or injure. And such recklessness on the part of Musk and Tesla doesn't deserve admiration but rather admonition.

Nigh Doug Newcomb

Doug Newcomb

Doug Newcomb is a recognized adept on the bailiwick of car technology within the auto industry and among the automotive and general media, and a frequent speaker at automotive and consumer electronics industry events. Doug began his career in 1988 at the car stereo merchandise publication Mobile Electronics, before serving equally editor of the leading consumer magazines covering the topic, Car Audio and Electronics and Motorcar Stereo Review/Mobile Entertainment/Road & Track Road Gear, from 1989 to 2005. In 2005 Doug started his own company, Newcomb Communications & Consulting, to provide content to such outlets as Route & Rails, Popular Mechanics, MSN Autos, SEMA News, and many others. In 2008, he …