Elon Musk on Monday unveiled a pilot version of an advanced driver assistance feature that Tesla Inc. is developing, a week after U.S. vehicle safety regulators opened a probe on a more basic iteration of the company’s assistant.
The statement amounts to a public concession from the Tesla CEO of a deficiency in a driver assistance feature designed to help vehicles drive through urban areas. The feature, available in a relatively small number of vehicles as part of a pilot program, is part of what Tesla calls full auto-steering technology or FSD.
“FSD Beta 9.2 isn’t really fantastic,” Musk said via Twitter, adding that the company “is focusing on improving as soon as possible.”
Tesla vehicles are equipped with driver assistance technology that the company calls autopilot. The features take advantage of cameras and other sensors to help drivers with tasks such as keeping a safe distance from other cars on the road. Tesla also sells an updated feature pack, FSD, for $ 10,000. It is intended to provide greater functionality. Technology does not yet allow autonomous driving.
Tesla’s driver assistance technology has been controlled by security officials and lawmakers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates car safety, said last week that it was investigating autopilot following 11 crashes since January 2018 involving Teslas in scenes to which vehicles had responded. emergency. These probes, however, may not always result in recoveries. [