Usually when you purchase a new vehicle, you know you’ll have to buy insurance separately, and — depending on the terms of the sale — pay for maintenance costs somewhere down the proverbial and literal road. Tesla says it’s planning to eventually bundle all of that together for one price. [More]
Autopilot
Investigation Finds Tesla’s Autopilot Functioned Properly In Fatal Crash
By 1.19.17
As expected, federal safety regulators closed a months-long investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot feature after the fatal crash occurred when the semi-autonomous driving feature was activated, finding that the collision was not the result of a defect in the feature. [More]
Feds Set To Close Investigation Into Fatal Tesla Autopilot Incident Without Recall
By 1.19.17 — Updated: 1.20.17
UPDATE: NHTSA has indeed closed its investigation into this collision and found that the driver was at fault. Click here for more details. [More]
Tesla Changes Autopilot Again, Restricts Driving To Posted Speed Limit On Some Roads
By 12.22.16
Tesla’s Autopilot has faced a slew of issues and controversies this year following the first fatal crash to occur while the semi-autonomous function was activated: from Germany asking the company to change the feature’s name to updates that included radar and driver enhancement safety checks. Now, the electric carmaker is making another change, rolling out an update that limits the vehicle to driving at the speed limit when on certain roads. [More]
Germany Asks Tesla To Rename “Misleading” Autopilot Feature
By 10.17.16
Two months ago, Tesla revised its website in China to make it more clear that the company’s Autopilot assisted-steering feature is not a fully hands-off autonomous driving function. Now, German authorities are calling on the electric vehicle maker to rethink the Autopilot name to avoid any confusion that could lead to dangerous collisions. [More]
Americans Pretty Sure Autonomous Cars Are Safer, Want To Keep Driving Anyway
By 9.28.16
In just a few short years, self-driving cars have made the shift from being the stuff of science fiction to actually hitting the road. Right now the tech is still largely in the testing stage, and human drivers sit in the front seat ready to take control. But as automakers, ride-hailing companies, and tech giants bring all their AI drivers onto the highways, one big question looms: will anyone actually want to buy a car that drives itself? Or are we just too in love with the American mythos of a steering wheel and the open road? [More]
Tesla Fires Back At Mobileye’s Claim It Broke Up With Carmaker Over Autopilot Safety
By 9.16.16
Yesterday, automotive tech company Mobileye claimed that it stopped providing parts for Tesla’s Autopilot assisted-driving system over concerns the carmaker was “pushing the envelope in terms of safety.” Now Tesla is firing back, saying the breakup occurred because Mobileye was unhappy to learn that Tesla planned to take over manufacturing of some Autopilot components. [More]
Tesla Supplier Says It Broke With Carmaker Over Autopilot Safety Concerns
By 9.15.16
In July, automotive tech company Mobileye, which had provided parts for Tesla’s Autopilot assisted-driving system, announced that it was ending its relationship with the carmaker. Now Mobileye says it parted ways with Tesla because Autopilot was “pushing the envelope in terms of safety.” [More]
Tesla Updating Autopilot Feature With Radar, Driver Engagement Safety Check
By 9.12.16
Two months after Tesla said its Autopilot feature wasn’t going anywhere amid a federal safety investigation into what part the feature played in the first fatal crash to occur while the semi-autonomous function was activated, the electric carmaker has unveiled a software update that it claims will better incorporate the use of radar, and which the company says could have prevented the May crash.
Tesla Removes The Words “Autopilot” & “Self-Driving” From China Website
By 8.15.16
After a crash involving a Tesla driver in Beijing who said he took his hands off the steering wheel while the car was in “Autopilot mode,” the company says it’s removed that word and a Chinese term that means “self-driving” from its China website. [More]
Tesla Says Driver Took Hands Off Wheel In Latest “Autopilot” Crash
By 8.10.16
Once again, high-end electric car maker Tesla is in the spotlight following a crash by a driver who was using the company’s “Autopilot” feature. However, the company says the driver was taking the term “autopilot” too literally. [More]
Investigators: Driver In Fatal Tesla Autopilot Crash Was Speeding
By 7.26.16
As federal safety investigators continue to investigate the first fatal crash allegedly involving Tesla’s autopilot feature, a preliminary report found that the vehicle was speeding before the collision. [More]
Tesla Won’t Disable Autopilot Feature Amid NHTSA Investigation
By 7.12.16
Tesla’s Autopilot function isn’t going anywhere, company executives say, despite a recently launched federal safety investigation into what part the feature played in the first fatality crash to occur while the semi-autonomous function was activated, and a reported probe into whether Tesla properly informed its investors of the collision. [More]
Tesla Probed By SEC Over Fatal Autopilot Crash
By 7.12.16
Nearly two weeks after Tesla announced the first fatal crash in one of the company’s electric vehicles while operating in semi-autonomous Autopilot mode, federal regulators are reportedly investigating whether the carmaker was forthright with offering information about the crash to investors. [More]
Tesla Claims There’s No Evidence Autopilot Was Used Before Recent Model X Crash
By 7.6.16
Tesla said Wednesday that there is no evidence to support the report that the Model X vehicle involved in a recent crash in Pennsylvania was operating in its semi-autonomous “autopilot” mode. [More]
Second Crash Reported Involving Tesla Vehicle Operating In Autopilot
By 7.6.16
UPDATE: Tesla is now claiming that, counter to police accounts of the incident, the autopilot mode may not have been engaged at the time of the crash.
Less than a week after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an inquiry into the fatal crash of a Tesla vehicle operating in its semi-autonomous “autopilot” mode, a second self-driving Tesla has reportedly been involved in a crash. [More]
Tesla Owners Can Try Pricey Autopilot Feature Free For One Month
By 4.18.16
If you own a Tesla Model S or Model X but didn’t feel like forking over $2,500 for the company’s new Autopilot software, you’re in luck: Tesla drivers can now get a free taste of what a more autonomous future could be like with a monthlong trial of the feature. [More]
