Tesla certainly has ambitions to produce truly self-driving cars but for now it’s making do with the “autopilot” mode which is basically an optional semiautonomous mode on the Tesla Model S. It uses ultrasonic radar to sense and avoid obstacles, pedestrians and other cars. It’s even capable of automatically changing lanes. Two new features are currently in the pipeline and they’re going to be added to the autopilot mode very soon.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed via Twitter that the company is working on two new features for autopilot mode: highway autosteer and parallel autopark.
The highway autosteer feature is reportedly going to let drivers go for a very long distance without actually have to touch the steering wheel or pedals. This would be the closest to autopilot that you can get on a road car right now.
Parallel autopark feature is pretty self-explanatory, this autopilot feature is going to make it much easier for Model S drivers to parallel park which is something that many drivers struggle with.
Tesla has not yet revealed when this software update is going to be released but it’s likely that the update will come in the very near future. It’s just ironing out some last minute kinks as Musk mentioned, such as dealing with contrast lane markings (faded white on grey concrete) while driving into the sun at dusk.