Tesla for some time has been teasing a huge Autopilot update that promises to deliver some huge improvements in performance and reliability. This past December, for example, Musk took to Twitter and said that Tesla has “the most advanced AI neural net of any consumer product by far” and that early testing on a revamped iteration of Autopilot has been mind-blowing. More recently, Musk a few weeks ago said that an impending update was already in its final testing phase.
While Tesla boasting about the capabilities of Autopilot is nothing new, the company’s self-driving technology has been under the microscope in recent years. For one, there have been a number of high-profile accidents that have allegedly happened with Autopilot engaged. Most recently, a Model S on Autopilot crashed into a stationary fire truck on a California freeway. Second, Tesla in 2016 completely cut ties with Mobileye, the company that provided Tesla with Autopilot’s underlying sensors. Following that, Tesla introduced new Autopilot hardware based on sensors it built in-house.
All that said, Tesla this week introduced a new update (2018.10.4) with some minor Autopilot enhancements, and Tesla owners, in predictable fashion, have been busy taking videos of the latest Autopilot features in action. While the release notes don’t mention any specific improvements, Electrek reports that users are “seeing a significant improvement in lane detection, a reduction of ‘ping-ponging’ within a lane, and a generally better experience when Autosteer is activated.”
A few of the new videos can be seen below, with the first one showcasing a Model X crossing over a narrow bridge.
The next video shows a Model S easily handling a winding and somewhat narrow road.
Below is another video of a Tesla handling a windy road, this one located in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txWzoTmuMi8
And one more video, just for good measure.