Tesla to roll out update to full self driven tech in 2-3 weeks, Elon Musk tweets

US based electric auto and clean energy company Tesla Inc. is planning to release a big update to its full self-driven (FSD) technology in the next two to three weeks, CEO Elon Musk announced in a Twitter post earlier today. Musk also emphasized that the difference between the upcoming v9 and current version v8 is going to be huge. The story was first reported by Reuters.

“That release goes out next week to US production. Then a week or two to polish pure vision FSD and v9 beta will release. Difference between v8 and v9 is gigantic,” Musk said in one of the Twitter posts.

Further responding to a query from another Twitter user, Musk added, “I think we’re maybe a month or two away from wide beta. But these things are hard to predict accurately. The work we had to do for pure vision driving was needed for FSD, so much more progress has been made than it would seem.”

Musk also said that the Smart Summon feature, which allows drivers to use a mobile app to call their self-driven Tesla, will be available in Europe by the end of the year along with FSD support, provided they get the regulatory approvals.

Already available in the US, Smart Summon works if the car is within a range of 200 metres of the smartphone.

Musk's announcement comes right after Tesla told California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) last week that it may not implement full self-driving technology “close to level 5’ by the end of this year as they had previously claimed. Tesla acknowledged that the full self-driven feature currently available in their cars is barely at level 2.

Tesla had started pushing the FSD update to a select group of employees and customers in October 2020 under the company’s early access beta testing program.

According to Society of Automotive Engineers, there are six levels in full self-driven technology. At level 2, a car can control the steering wheel and acceleration, but under a driver’s supervision, while at level 5, a car achieves complete autonomy and can self-drive without requiring user intervention at any point.

Self-driven technology is the latest fad in car tech, however, it has also raised eyebrows over safety of passengers and pedestrians on a busy road. According to a NYT report, in April a self-driven Tesla car veered off the road and hit a tree before catching fire. Two people who were present in the car at the time were killed.

Local law enforcement claimed that in the immediate aftermath of the crash no one was behind the wheel. Tesla executives have refuted the claims.

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