Tesla is an electric car manufacturer that has embedded autonomous technology. However, currently the level is still at Level 2. To note, the autonomous technology consists of six levels.
At Level 2, this technology offers driving, braking and accelerating assistance to the driver. However, it still requires intervention from the driver. For example, the Lane Centering and Adaptive Cruise Control features work at the same time.
Reported from Carbuzz.com, Saturday (1/1/2022), in a podcast interview, Elon Musk mentioned that Level 4 autonomous technology will be applied to Tesla cars by 2022.
See also: Tesla delivered nearly 1 million Electric Vehicles in 2021
“It looks like it will happen next year,” said Elon Musk, when asked about Level 4 autonomous technology.
Given that Tesla has not yet perfected Level 3 autonomous technology, not a few have doubted Elon Musk's statement.
In the interview, he noted how interventions per million miles have been “dropping rapidly,” and following this trend, the likelihood of an accident on a Tesla Model S equipped with Full Self Driving (FSD) software would be less than the “average human.”
Elon Musk's definition of “average human” is also questioned. Currently, there have been many accidents and near misses, due to using FSD. So it's not enough to just be better than the “average human.”
See also: Tesla recalls almost half a milion Model 3 and Model S because safety issues
Level 3 autonomous technology is currently only owned by Honda with the Legend Hybrid EX model aka Acura RLX. At this level, the car has the ability to make the decision to overtake the slower-moving vehicle in front of it.
Although Tesla's FSD feature appears to be on the surface, it still requires too much correction from the driver to be considered that sophisticated. Plus, if Tesla officially sets FSD as Level 4, it will be subject to more scrutiny from regulators.
Although Tesla initially promised Level 5 autonomous technology in 2021, involving cars without a steering wheel or human controls, Tesla admits it is far from achieving this goal.
Based on independent tests of Tesla's FSD software, many doubted Elon Musk could bring Level 4 autonomous technology to his car.
Moreover, several times Elon Musk's statements are never timely. For example, autonomous vehicles will be in two years (promised in 2016), one million robotaxis on the road (promised in 2020), and several vehicles that have been pushed back, such as the Roadster, Semi, and Cybertruck.
