Is Tesla Actually Ready To Introduce Driverless Cars?

Tesla wants to make its driverless car safer to curb accidents

Tesla Motors Inc. is reportedly going to apply restrictions to its Autopilot feature in the upcoming update so that they can stop the owners from experimenting with scary stunts like shaving, eating, sleeping etc. while they are driving particularly on highways.

On the company’s official website, a blog post was published where the electric car giant has already shown concerns since drivers do still not understand the concept behind an autonomous car. Some Tesla owners were found tweaking the features so that they can completely rely on the car which can result in accidents. So now the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Elon Musk had decided to limit the features so that they can prevent accidents from happening.

A part of the restrictions that are expected in the upcoming 7.1 update is the decision to limit the speed of the car less than almost 45mph on single lanes that have defined line boundaries. The update will be only implied to the driverless features if the driver complies to the speed restrictions and will only be activated on the highways. Self-parking feature along with the updated interface for users is expected in the times to come.

At present, driver assistance is being offered to drivers that encompass features like Autosteer, 360-degree Side-Collision Warning, lane shifts for autos and a modified version for Autopark that enables parking on its own.

The core source related to Tesla news known as Teslarati which caters to lifestyle, reviews and rumors believes that it is still not clear if the software which is restricted is actually downloadable or not. Sources close to the company now believe that the feature has already been released to certain beta testers.

These changes might not receive positive feedback by all the car owners. One of the members belonging to TCM forum Cyberax were reported by Teslarati stating, “If there’s an update that removes a functionality that is useful for me, then I’m not going to install it. I’ll sue Tesla if they update my car without asking me. This screenshot with 45 mph restriction is now a line in the sand for me.”

The idea which the company wants to implement is to ensure a safer drive so that the users do not meet any accident while on board on a Tesla autonomous car.

At the moment, Tesla commented by saying “We're building Autopilot to give you more confidence behind the wheel, increase your safety on the road, and make highway driving more enjoyable."

Alphabet To Launch A Standalone Company For Driverless Cars

Google will soon reveal its driverless cars to give a tough time to Uber

Alphabet Inc. is finally all set to reveal its driverless cars to the masses. The company has now planned to transform its driverless car segment into a standalone entity that will function under the umbrella of Alphabet Inc. in the coming years as stated by Bloomberg. The business model under which the company will operate is hire for use. With a service of this nature, the company now wishes to give a tough time to the ride hailing service, Uber.

According to the search engine giant, the company has already experimented with its cars where they have covered a span of one million miles on the public space. The initial launch of the service is expected in regions like Austin, Texas and San Francisco since majority of the miles were covered in these locations. It is also speculated that the service will initially cater to limited locations like military base, colleges and other similar closed vicinities.

Google at this point of time has made it quite clear that it is eyeing the top position in the transportation segment. The model they are using is simple but will churn out revenues for them in the long run. The company started to test the technology back in FY09 and has chalked out ways to ensure a stable revenue stream. The companies that belong to the tech and automotive world are now trying their best to supersede one another by coming up with self-driven cars. the company at this point of time has a valuation of more than $50 billion.

It now seems that GOOG has locked its target and it devoted to give a tough time to Uber in the industry. Uber similar to Google is trying its best to make a mark in the automotive industry and has been striving hard to interlink its autonomous cars technology and taxi business. So once both the companies succeed in doing so, there will be cut throat competition.

According to a poll conducted by Gartner Inc. almost one third of in the individuals in the United States are actually quite keen to get their hands on an autonomous car. However, they are still not sure if a driver can be replaced by a machine.

Back in August, the company has completely transformed its mechanism since it made Alphabet as its parent company. A bunch of the company’s business segment like Google Inc, Google Robotics Division, and Google Ventures will be now changed into standalone companies which will now function on its own under Alphabet.