Following up on the earlier article, “Tesla Joins the Race for Automated Driving,” Tesla Motors Inc. has made an announcement on Thursday that they have released new features that allow its electric sedan to park itself.

The car is like having a personal roller coaster.” – Tesla CEO Elon Musk joked.

After Tesla’s announcement to unveil the “big D and something else,” Musk revealed that D stands for “dual motor” which means that the vehicle will have a motor on both sides to increase control. This installment improves the speed, acceleration and mileage by controlling which motor is used. The dual-motor version will also exhibit a top speed of 155 mph compared with the current 130 mph. It will also accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds, similarly to race cars. Musk added that the new Model S cars already have autopilot hardware installed. This feature includes a long-range radar as well that can detect obstacles like traffic signs or even people to make the vehicle safer.

The CEO warned, however, that the autopilot does not allow the driver to fall asleep at the wheel or get too distracted because it is not fully autonomous. Automakers are working on developing features that will apply brakes or slow down when they sense an impending collision in order to minimize risk.

Until the Model X arrives, a vehicle that will substantially amplify Tesla’s appeal and volume potential, these upgrades should keep the Model S at the forefront of advanced personal transportation.” – Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

Meanwhile, developers at Google Inc. are working on the technology for a completely driverless car. General Motors also announced that its Cadillac brand will unveil a vehicle in 2016 that incorporates hands-free driving technology.

We definitely have a lot to look forward to.

Read more here – “Tesla Unveils All-wheel Drive Model S, ‘Autopilot’ Features,” (Nichola Groom, Reuters).