Since the arrival of Tesla on the automotive scene, the craze for self-driving cars has caught up with the automotive marques of the world. A modern luxury car is expected to feature autonomous technologies to stand a chance of selling in the market. Tesla’s autonomous systems have been a step ahead of its rivals, promising an almost driver-less experience for the driver; er, a passenger on the driver seat. However, the company’s employees think otherwise.
After Sterling Anderson resigned as the head of the Autopilot systems for Tesla, his replacement also stepped down from his post within six months. Not only their own employees, Mobileye — the company responsible for the computer systems of the Autopilot system, also quit last year.
Despite churning out revolutionary automobiles, Tesla’s products have seen some fatal crashes involving the Autopilot. Although the company rules out the possibilities of an error in their Autopilot system, the company’s employees feel that the decision to go ahead with their autonomous system was a “reckless decision”. The incomplete system has put the lives of several Tesla customers at risk.
If you look at a Tesla autonomous vehicle, say the Model S P100D and an autonomous vehicle from a company like Google or Apple, they look miles apart. While traditional autonomous cars have a roof- mounted arrangement with multiple sensors and cameras (lidar systems) that can build detailed 360-degree environments on long distances, Tesla’s well-concealed system builds a picture of the environment with ultrasonic sensors, radar and cameras that, despite being cheaper to mass produce, are not as good as the lidar systems.
Therefore, it seems that Tesla’s Elon Musk may be flying off the ground too early with his vision of ultimate autonomy in cars. It might be some time before you can buy a Tesla that can drive you around safely.
