





Ron Amadeo



Ron Amadeo







Ron Amadeo

















NEW YORK CITY—I recently spent some time driving in New York City traffic, and while normally I would alternate between being extremely bored or extremely stressed out, this time it wasn't so bad. That's because I wasn't doing much driving—the Tesla Model S was.

Today, Tesla began pushing out its "Version 7.0" update, which gives the Model S several assistive driving features that Tesla refers to as "Autopilot." Ars recently got to test the new system as Tesla's "computer on wheels" whisked us through busy New York City traffic. Tesla's Autopilot update will handle radar-guided cruise control that can bring the car to a complete stop, line guidance that will steer to keep the car in a lane, turn-signal initiated automated lane switching, and automatic parallel parking.

Further Reading Prepare for the part-time self-driving car

Besides the combo turn signal/wiper, a second control stalk on the left side deals with the assistive driving features. If the car feels it's detecting everything well enough for Autopilot to work, a steering wheel icon will appear on the driver's display. When this icon shows up, pulling the assistive driving stick toward you twice will engage Autopilot.

The system is geared for highway driving, so New York City driving was quite a stress test for the system. It still performed pretty well, taking over the majority of driving tasks while we were riding along. The biggest problem with testing driving assist technology for such a short period of time is that you don't have time to get comfortable with it, so I never really got to "trust" the car and was always ready to take control at a moment's notice.

One of the best aspects of Tesla's system is how customizable it is. The camera can read street signs, including the speed limit, so it knows what speed to cruise at, but if you're an enthusiastic driver you'll be glad to know that those detected speed limit signs are only a suggestion. Like any cruise control system, you can speed this one up or slow it down by tapping up or down on the assisted driving stalk. You can also twist the end of the stick to set the follow and braking distance from one to seven. Everyone has a different driving style that they are comfortable with, and it's nice to know that Tesla's assistive driving features are customizable to your preferences.

In its current incarnation, Autopilot seems a little overhyped. At the end of the day it's just adaptive cruise control and lane keeping. Both features are something we've seen on other cars before, making Tesla's Autopilot feel like another baby step toward automated driving rather than a revolution. Using the scale found in the NHTSA's Automated Vehicle Policy, Tesla says that Autopilot makes the Model S a "level 2" automated vehicle. "Level 2" means the driver must pay attention at all times and the car only handles "at least two primary control functions." ("Level 3" would offer occasional fully automated driving, while "level 4" is something like what Google is working toward, which is fully autonomous all the time.) Tesla says that in any accident, the driver is liable. The car can't navigate on its own or stop for pedestrians, traffic lights, or stop signs.

We've had two Ars editors drive the Model S now, and both of us found the best aspect of the Model S to be the 360 degree sensing feature. While pulling out of a parallel parking spot and unsure of how close we were to the car in front of us, the ultrasonic sensor told us exactly how far away we were from having an accident. Along with the usual reverse camera, the situation awareness was the best we've seen in a car.

Tesla's cars can all learn from each other thanks to the Model S's Internet connection, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk says drivers should be able to feel the difference after just a week. The car is continually taking detailed maps as you drive, which it uploads to the cloud. Also, any time a driver interrupts the assisted driving feature, Tesla treats that as a data point and tries to learn from it. All of this data is anonymous, and owners can opt out of the data collection if they wish.

The 7.0 update will bring Autopilot to any Model S sold since October 2014. Tesla says its system is geared for the future, and more software updates will over time bring more automated features to the Model S, like the eventual ability to read stop signs and street lights. Tesla's upgrading and learning feature seems like a much better deal than what other automakers offer; most manufacturers require you to buy a new car every year to keep up with new assisted driving features, but Tesla's policy of updating existing models is an industry-leading move.

Musk says he expects Tesla to have the technology for fully automated driving ready within three years but that the cars will need much more hardware than the Model S is currently packing. Interestingly, Musk says that LIDAR, the spinning laser system on top of Ford and Google's self driving cars, isn't necessary for a fully autonomous vehicle. Rather, he thinks optical cameras are "sufficient for the task."

Tesla has big plans for the future of the Model S, including the ability to summon it to your location through a smartphone app. This is something that would only be legal on private property, so we'll have to see what it looks like once the feature launches. But today, the Model S is just a little more automated, and the system is learning every week.