[UPDATED] Upcoming Tesla Autopilot v8.0 Update To Introduce Autonomous Freeway Interchanges & “Abort Procedure”

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Update August 31: Elon Musk just tweeted statements regarding the new Autopilot software. Here are the three tweets:

autopilot_handsoffEvery time that Tesla’s Autopilot software gets an update, we seemingly get one step closer to full autonomy. The most recently added feature, Summon, which allows for autonomously parking (and de-parking) into and out of a garage, in particular seems to have “wowed” a lot of people.

With a new update nearly here (the v8.0 update), what will we get this time? Going by the rumors, Autopilot users will be given the ability to autonomously travel through freeway interchanges simply by utilizing the turn signal, which should please quite a few people.

In addition, a new “abort procedure” will be introduced, to de-engage Autopilot in the case of an accident or carelessness — probably partly as a response to some of the criticism that accompanied the fatal accident a few months back.

Autoblog, based on a report from Electrek, states that the new “abort procedure” goes “into effect if the driver doesn’t respond to instructions to put his or her hands on the wheel within 15 seconds. At that point, the car will turn the music down and slow to a crawl until the driver re-engages the steering wheel. After that, Autopilot will only be re-engaged once the car is stopped and put into Park. At the least it’s a time out for a badly-behaving driver, but this is also potentially life-saving if the driver become incapacitated while using Autopilot. The Drive Pilot program in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class has a similar function that will bring the car to a stop and activate the hazard lights.”

The new (rumored) ability to travel between freeway interchanges autonomously is reportedly the result (mostly) of substantially improved mapping devices.

As far as the release timeframe for v8.0? Nothing’s very clear yet, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk was quoted recently as saying that it was in its “final review” stage at this point.

Related: Tesla Has The Right Approach To Self-Driving Cars

Image: Screenshot of CleanTechnica’s Tesla Model X & Autopilot review video.


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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