In 2014, Tesla started putting cameras and sensors into its Model S vehicles, hoping that one day the dream of self-driving cars will be possible. Now that moment has come and the boys from NPR tested one to see what is still SF and what has become reality.
It’s actually pretty easy to drive one
Along with Tesla’s spokesman Matt Schulwitz, they took the car out for a spin on California’s roads. Changes on the instrument panel were clearly visible.
Where cars once had normal dashboards, there’s a computer screen. When a a little icon lights up, it means that “the car has confidence in the road conditions and you’re ready to activate auto-pilot”, said Schulwitz.
Yes, of course you can take your hands off the steering wheel and your foot off the accelerator, that’s how self-driving cars work. But don’t get to exited. It still has a few “bugs” that need to be fixed. After the inner-city test, the boys from NPR also felt that the one of the most famous self-driving cars, Tesla in our case, is not ready for sharp turns and it can’t read stop signs and lights yet.
But on the highway the car performed better and even changed lanes, once you put on the turn signal. It doesn’t happen straight away, as the car inches forward, then pulls back. What’s really interesting about this self-driving car from Tesla is that it wasn’t made by adding new components; they were inside all the time but needed to be activated. $2,500 is the subscription price for activating the code.
Tesla’s cars will get better and better
“In the short term I think it’s very important that people exercise caution because the software — it’s very new.People should see the car actually improve probably with each passing week.So even without a new software update, because the data is continually improving”, said Tesla founder Elon Musk, according to NPR.
