Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
- Elon Musk is looking for a few hundred more people to test and provide feedback about Tesla’s long-awaited Hardware 3 update, according to an internal company message.
- Hardware 3, first announced in August, will likely expand the autonomous abilities of Tesla cars.
- It’s still unclear just what those expanded capabilities will be, however.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants “a few hundred” more people to test out the company’s new Autopilot Hardware 3, the long-awaited neural net technology that the company has said will give cars “Full Self-Driving Capability” for $8,000 plus the price of the car.
It’s been hard to pin down details about Hardware 3. Musk had once promised that Tesla cars would be able to provide a coast-to-coast autonomous drive by the end of 2017. Of course, that never happened, though the cars do offer limited self-driving capabilities, including:
- Autosteer, which detects painted lane lines and cars to keep you in your lane automatically
- Auto-lane change
- Summon, an option that starts the car and brings it to you
- And the abilities to take on/off ramps, pass slow cars and park automatically
In September, Tesla announced that it planned to use a team of internal testers to test an early version of Hardware 3. One month later, the company removed an option from its website that let customers pre-order “Full Self-Driving Capability.” Musk said the controversial option was
Now, an internal Tesla message, ostensibly from Musk, shows that the company is offering to swap out Hardware 2 for Hardware 3 in the cars of anyone, customers or employees, who chooses to participate in the testing program. It’s the “last time the offer will be made,” the message reads.
Will the update really make Teslas “full self-driving”?
Telsa CEO Elon Musk unveils new vehicle. Photo credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
It’s unclear, exactly. The website 1reddrop, which covers Tesla news and technology, wrote that Tesla is focusing on improving GPS technology, and that increased computing power in Hardware 3 will translate to lower latency and quicker reaction times. Also, it could enable the cars to keep better live maps of roads:
Every Tesla with Autopilot engaged sends…
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